Song of Aether
by wingedmercury
Summary: Strange rumors from the border make Sasuke wonder just how tenuous Konoha's peacetime really is. When his oldest child is targeted by a suspicious character—who may or may not be connected to the supposedly long dead Uchiha Madara—anxiety mounts, and the tranquil life that Sasuke and Sakura have worked so hard to build begins to fracture under the pressure.
1. Prologue

a/n Full summary and author's note will be at the beginning of the next chapter.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Sasuke stood in an expansive field. It was strangely illuminated on all sides though there was no sun present. The grass all around him was an almost artificial shade of chartreuse, and though there was no breeze the field undulated in waves. Nearby, a creek idly gushed, creating a backdrop of static sound, and somewhere in the distance he heard doves murmuring, like a chorus of mourners. A peaceful but eerie scene.

It had been a long time since Sasuke had this particular reoccurring dream, and he was surprised at the detailed world he found himself in. He had been blind now for over ten years, and his dreams had faded in all that time from perfectly rendered pictures to darkness accompanied by muffled sound. That is, until now. His sight unnaturally restored in his dream, he found himself squinting in the brightness of the light.

Behind him he heard the sound of flapping wings, a rush of feathers, bringing darkness which quelled the light.

"Itachi," Sasuke muttered, even though his lips did not move.

Sasuke heard gentle laughter, echoing hollowly throughout the hillside and mingling with the noise of the rushing creek. It was an oddly liquid sound.

Sasuke continued speaking as he spun around to face his brother, "It's been...some time."

In fact, Sasuke could have sworn that it had been years since he had a lucid dream like this...and it had been just as many years since Itachi had come into his dreams. Some part of his mind, still awake despite his dreaming state, idly noted that the two phenomena seemed to be related. Sasuke again was amazed at the vivacity of the scene around him; as he faced his brother, he perceived how each line of Itachi's face seemed etched with a fine tipped pen, and drawn with ink as dark as a night without moon or stars.

Itachi nodded silently to Sasuke's greeting. His long black hair became unbound in that motion, and flowed around his head as if suspended in water; his locks formed arabesques that framed him like a dark halo. Itachi turned away from his brother and walked to the babbling creek with slow, deliberate strides, seeming almost to float over the rolling grass. He procured a silver bowl from the folds of his black cloak, then dipped the vessel into the creek. He returned to where Sasuke was standing with the same eerie floating quality to his stride, and held out the bowl full of clear water in front of Sasuke.

"Look," Itachi's voice rang like a hammer hitting hard metal, echoing painfully inside Sasuke's skull. As if transfixed, Sasuke edged closer to the bowl and peered inside-

The water swirled and flashed in the light's brilliance, silver shining like a thousand suns. Sasuke blinked- the light dissolved into thick, paste-like darkness, and he found himself standing on a murky steppe, barren save for small patches of brown grass and dried out thistles. In the center was a large pile of decaying corpses, putrescent, the forms of individual bodies indistinguishable from the greater mass of limbs protruding from the heap. From the wreckage emerged a spider the size of a small house; it began weaving a web around the carnage, a thick, gauze-like blanket that soon enshrouded the mound. When its work was done, the spider blinked a myriad of glassy eyes at once and looked up at Sasuke, its eyes and fangs gleaming metallically in the darkness.

The arachnid blinked again, then focused its multi-faceted gaze on Sasuke once more before it advanced towards him on its long, hairy legs. When it was only a breath away from Sasuke, the creature's dark eyes swirled with crimson and cadmium, whirling to reveal three dark commas on a field of blood, mirrored a thousand times in a thousand different eyes-

Suddenly, the space shifted again. Darkness dissolved back into light, and Sasuke found himself in the original, bright grassy clearing once more, his brother beside him. Itachi, birdlike, blinked down at his younger brother. The silver bowl was still in Itachi's hand, but now it was empty. Itachi threw it up into the air where it transformed into a field of crows, their cries filling the sky like falling snow. Then Itachi's body also dissolved into innumerable black wings, turning the bright clearing dark once more under the weight of black feathers...

And as the dream began to fade, and Sasuke returned to consciousness, Itachi's final words rang in his mind like an echo trapped in a deep canyon-

"He's coming..."

When Sasuke finally woke, blinking blindly at the sunlight streaming in through his window, he fought in vain to forget the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2: Graduation

Song of Aether

**Full Summary:**

Strange rumors from the border make Sasuke wonder just how tenuous Konoha's peacetime really is. When his oldest child is targeted by a suspicious character—who may or may not be connected to the supposedly long dead Uchiha Madara—anxiety mounts, and the tranquil life that Sasuke and Sakura have worked so hard to build begins to fracture under the pressure.

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><p><strong>Updated Author's Note, 728/13**

Wow, this story has been running for two years now. My first attempt at a novel, this story has some awkward phases as I worked out idiosyncrasies and kinks in my writing. As the reader, no doubt you will find some bumpy areas in the earlier chapters, **but I urge you to keep reading**: this story has a great plot and characters that you will come to care about.

The fact that I continue to update this story until the end shows that I have faith in it. It goes places that most fanfics don't go to, and has influenced my writing immensely. It's a gem:) I am grateful to this story, and to my readers who have given me excellent criticism and support along the way.

I plan to finish this fic this summer or in the fall; it is almost complete. Full list of my own characters is in my profile, along with links to pictures of them:)

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think.

Ever yours,

Wings

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Graduation<strong>

_Today I roamed with the lady of the mountain_

_Trying to find something my soul to sleep_

_In the thickets of wildflowers, wandering_

_by the rush of the cold spring creek._

_~The Second Book Of The Songs Of Akash, Verse I_

The eldest Uchiha child finished putting gel in her hair. It was a difficult look to achieve- just enough time and effort so that the spikes of her hair were styled, but in such a way that it looked like she had just rolled out of bed without actually giving any thought to her locks. It wasn't easy having the Uchiha mane; the genetics did not make for good hair days, especially when the weather was humid. Suddenly, a loud, irritating voice jolted her out of her reverie, and her hand slipped, messing up a lock of what had been perfectly coiffed hair.

"Yuki! Yuki, you're so going to be late." Saki bounced into her older sister's room while munching on a red apple. Her pink hair frizzed and framed her face, escaping the tight braids that Sakura had woven only a short time ago; her outfit had odd creases in it, as if Saki had picked her uniform up from her floor and had donned it without a second thought. _How very unhygienic, _Yuki mused dryly. Additionally, Yuki was unnerved by her sister's voracious, loud chewing noises, and she noted idly that her younger sister's motions of mastication really highlighted the baby-fat that remained on Saki's ruddy face.

"Stop riding my ass Saki," Yuki muttered while adjusting her hair. Kami knew, the twerp was _always_ riding her proverbial ass. Even though her younger sister lived across the hall- thank the lord they didn't have to share a room!- Saki always made it a point to infringe upon her older sister's personal space on a regular basis. Her mother often told her that Saki was just trying to get close to her, but Yuki doubted it; if anything, Saki was a violent and vaguely sadistic housemate, in Yuki's professional opinion.

"Gah, I'm not riding your ass!" the younger girl pouted as she opened the door again, twirling a kunai in her free hand. "Anyway, I'm just trying to be helpful Yuki-_chan_, 'cause dad's totally going to be pissed if you're late."

Yuki grimaced and looked at her watch. "Idiot, I'm right on time. Go bother someone else."

"Jerk." Saki stabbed the kunai into her sister's door and stomped down the steps; her angry footfalls echoed dully throughout the stairwell. Yuki merely rolled her eyes and plucked the offending knife out of her door, its wooden surface already pockmarked from Saki's previous assaults. She finished adjusting her uniform- which was already impeccable to begin with- and gracefully made her way down the steps.

"Come on trolls, let's go already." Sasuke opened the door and gestured for his kids to get-the-hell-moving.

"Hai, otousan!" Saki called, trying to score points with her father by being obedient for once.

"Hn." Yuki, on the other hand, who had adopted the classic 'I-don't-give-a-shit-for-I-am-an-Uchiha' attitude, promptly shoved her hands into her pockets and made a bee-line for the door.

"Oi, otousan, where's mom?" Saki pulled a shuriken out of her holster and started twirling it on her index finger as they made their way down the street. Sasuke sighed pointedly and reached out for the spinning weapon, neatly stopping its revolutions with a pinch of his fingers.

"She's meeting us there. With Takeo."

Saki pouted prettily, "Hey, I was practicing-"

"You shouldn't mess around with sharp objects. You could hurt someone." Using his parental intuition, Sasuke could tell that the weapon was only seconds away from being hurled at Yuki. Really, how many times did he have to tell Saki to stop stabbing Yuki's door with kunai? Or to cease flinging weapons at her sister without any real provocation? Sasuke really despaired about Saki's temperament sometimes; it seemed Saki had inherited Sakura's infamous short fuse, much to his chagrin. He had hoped all his children could have received the cool, calm, and collected countenance of the Uchiha, and thus bring honor to the family name-

"You mean...I could really hurt someone_...Like Yuki..."_ the younger girl muttered under her breath, the angry utterance only confirming Sasuke's thoughts.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," Yuki shot the remark over her shoulder, not even bothering to look behind her at her sister.

Saki ground her teeth, then slid her shuriken out of her father's grasp. With an evil smirk, she summarily flung it at her elder sister. But Yuki, the epitome of ninja perfection, caught the weapon in midair and pocketed the projectile with practiced ease.

"Hey, Yuki, give that back!"

"Finders keepers, losers weepers. You're such an idiot."

"Daaaaaaaad!"

Sasuke fought the urge to grin, and instead replied smoothly, "I told you not to mess around with sharp objects. Now you must face the consequences of your actions."

Saki sighed dramatically and ran a hand through her pink hair, which only served to further unravel the tight braidSakura had spent so much time on earlier that morning.

"Gah, dad, you're always going on about consequences!" Saki pouted and crossed her arms before muttering under her breath, "You think you could be a _little_ more creative with the lectures already?" She rolled her eyes at her father and quickly jogged up to her older sister to exchange more insults. With his progeny's backs turned to him, Sasuke finally indulged in a smile.

Who would have thought that Konoha's most mentally unstable, least likeable, renegade ninja would have ended up happily married with three kids? Although truth be told, if Sasuke had had his way, he would be the proud father of _four_ or _five_ or even _six _kids by now...

"_Sasuke, for the hundredth time, I'm not a baby making machine."_

_Sasuke frowned slightly and twined his arms around his wife. "I never said you were."_

_Sakura rolled her eyes. "Not exactly, but you've said as much to that effect. I have my career to think about-"_

_Sasuke stalled her protests by placing a finger on her lips. "Haven't I been doing a fine job with Yuki, Saki, and Takeo, raising them up at home while you're at work? I daresay I'm the model house husband." _

_In fact, it was surprising how quickly Sasuke had taken to the domestic arts once he and Saukra had settled down. At one point, an astrologer had wandered through town and had drawn up his chart; apparently, his moon was in Cancer, which would theoretically explain his mysterious propensity towards nesting. Although Sasuke wasn't sure he believed in all that crystal gripping hippie shit... _

_In any event, since he was condemned to house arrest for the foreseeable future, he resigned himself to making the best of his situation, for himself and for Sakura. Still, he couldn't help but feel claustrophobic at times; he figured, if he couldn't have missions or even leave the house without a bloody escort, at least he could have another baby to raise while serving out the rest of his sentence._

_Sakura snorted. "I never said you weren't dar-ling, but you _know_ that's not the issue. The issue is, how can I advance as a medical ninja while I'm pregnant and need to conserve my chakra? For Kami's sake, Takeo is barely one..."_

_Sasuke sighed. "If I could, I'd look at you with my adorable puppy eyes and you wouldn't be able to say no."_

_Sakura laughed at that, and the joke was especially funny since Sasuke had been blind for years. "Well, thank goodness you can't use puppy-eye-no-jutsu on me, because I seriously can't afford to be knocked up right now." After all, Sakura was head of the hospital now, and she was even considering taking on another apprentice, Kami help her. Not to mention that she was one of the Hokage's top advisors. She ruffled his hair, and then proceeded to tackle him on the bed. She then smoothed his messed up hair affectionately and continued, "I know rebuilding your clan is really important to you Sasuke-kun, but we have time. There's no rush. I still have another ten, fertile years ahead of me, at least. So...can we wait another year or two?"_

"_Two?" he asked incredulously. He wanted to make another mini-Uchiha that very night..._

_Sakura laughed and whapped him over the head with a pillow, reading his over-zealous mind. _

"Dad, I can tell you just zoned out."

"Of course not. I was paying attention to your every word. The answer is no."

Yuki shook her head. "I didn't ask you a yes or no question."

Sasuke nodded sagaciously. "Very good. I was testing your reflexes."

"Dad! You _so_ weren't paying attention!" Saki groaned and slapped her hand over her eyes.

Yuki crossed her arms. "A ninja looks underneath the underneath. Indeed."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his eldest daughter's somewhat esoteric statement. "What are you getting at?"

"She's saying you're getting soft old man!" Saki grinned and chucked a kunai at Sasuke. He sighed wearily, expeditiously snatched the knife out of the air, and shoved it into his weapons pouch as Saki shouted angrily for him to return it. _She just never learns, _he thought, half amused, half annoyed. Sasuke sighed theatrically and muttered, "Kids these days." He couldn't see it, but he was sure his children were rolling their eyes at him.

Thankfully, they had arrived at the academy and Sasuke was saved from further humiliation at the hands of his own children by his wife.

"Okaasan!" Saki yelped enthusiastically.

"Okaasan," Yuki murmured, composed and yet giving off the impression of being slightly irked.

The two children bowed politely to Sakura.

"Yuki, Saki, I trust you haven't been giving your father a hard time?"

Sasuke grinned and sardonically replied, "They were the model of respectful, polite children."

Sakura scoffed and shifted the weight of one sleeping Takeo in her arms. "I see, I'm so _glad to hear it_, Yuki, Saki." Sakura's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "Yuki, go ahead and line up with the rest of your class. Saki, why don't you find your friends?"

"Hai, okaasan!" the two sisters shouted in stereo before sauntering off. Sasuke sighed for the umpteenth time that day and cooed down at the sleeping form in Sakura's arms, "You're going to treat daddy nice, won't you little one? You won't be excessively cruel like your older sisters, no, no. You'll be a proper, honorable Uchiha." Sasuke grinned and and put his arm around Sakura before continuing, "It's good to have another man in the house."

"Sasuke, Takeo is one-and-a-half. That's hardly a man," she deadpanned.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. I'll take what I can get."

"Baka." Sakura raised herself up on the balls of her feet and gave Sasuke a peck on the cheek. "Let's go find a good seat before everything in the front row is taken."

"Hn. Give me a bit of healing chakra before we go in... my head is killing me."

Sakura rolled her eyes and muttered, "The girls were that bad, huh?" Acquiescing, she funneled chakra into his temples and over his broken eyes.

"Ah, arigato. So much better. Those brats are really something else..."

Sakura snorted. "Alright, why don't we find a seat and I'll work on your headache some more once we're inside."

(line break)

The graduation ceremony from the academy hadn't changed much since he and the rest of Team Seven had sat through it. He was unable to stifle a yawn, which earned him a disapproving grimace from Sakura. And of course, it was at that precise moment that Takeo woke up from his nap and started fussing; Sasuke was only too happy to take the malcontent baby from Sakura as an excuse to leave the stuffy auditorium.

"Hush now, demon-spawn, daddy's taking you outside now."

His squalling baby earned him yet more disapproving glances from the crowd, and it took every ounce of ninja stealth to exit without pissing off everyone and their literal mother. Finally, they reached the large, metal doors and slipped outside just as Takeo's whining reached earsplitting crescendos.

_If only I could still use my mangekyou sharingan on this little shit..._ Sasuke was slightly appalled at the thought of using that particular jutsu on his own baby, and he knew that Sakura would throttle him if she ever found out he had even _dreamed_ of something like that. Sasuke began desperately trying to calm Takeo, who was squirming in his arms like one of Ibiki's prisoners undergoing intense torture.

He offered the baby water which Takeo promptly spit back up on him. He half-heartedly began bouncing the babe up and down, which only earned him louder cries. In desperation he covertly retrieved a candy bar from his pocket, thanking Kami that Sakura wasn't there to see him offering their child refined sugars. However, Takeo seemed to have the same feelings about the candy that he had about the water; he nearly brained Sasuke as he hurled the sweets at his father. Finally Sasuke gave up and sat Takeo down under a shady tree. It was hot outside so Sasuke lay down next to the still-screaming brat.

"Kami Takeo, I really don't know what you want!" Exasperated, Sasuke stuck out his tongue as an expression of his complete and utter resignation to torture at the hands of his the screaming child. The baby giggled and stuck his tongue back out at his father. Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Sasuke pulled the corners of his lips apart, his lame attempt at a silly face. Takeo rewarded him with a smile and mirrored Sasuke's motions, his little hands entering his drooling maw and pulling apart his lips in his best caricature of his dad.

However, after a moment the boy became bored of this game and proceeded to wail again. Desperate times called for desperate measures- Sasuke screwed up his face and began speaking nonsense. "Ooogie boogie boo!" Takeo ceased his cries and laughed loudly. _Thank Kami...now all I have to do is keep on making faces at the little hellion until the ceremony is over._ Sasuke continued to make an ass of himself, pulling down his eyelids and gnashing his teeth to a garbled version of the itsy-bitsy-spider for the sake of peace and quiet, until finally-

"You know, if you keep on doing that, your face will freeze in that position."

If Sasuke had the power of sight, he would have shot the intruder a death glare for witnessing the embarrassing scene. "As long as my baby shuts up, I don't care," Sasuke replied somewhat snappily before he sighed and turned to Takeo, who (thank the Spirits!) had been distracted from his temper tantrum by a fluttering swallow-tail butterfly. Sasuke was safe for now. Remembering one of Sakura's many lectures on how Sasuke needed to be more civil to his peers, he cleared his throat and continued in a friendlier tone, "How are you Shikamaru-san? Your boy isn't graduating today, is he?"

"Hayato? Nah, he's only eight, plus he'll probably end up graduating over in the Sand country. You know how it is- he's perfectly capable of graduating right now, but both the Hokage and the Kazekage insist on no early graduations. It's troublesome, but what can you do? I suppose its for the best."

"Can't hurt to take things slow." Sasuke nodded thoughtfully, then scowled as he noticed that the ends of his scarf were currently being chewed on by his youngest son. Sasuke wished he hadn't worn his favorite silk scarf with the intricate embroidered hawks on it that particular day; he had much plainer ones that he used to cover his blind eyes that already had Takeo's gnaw marks on them. Such was his luck. Sasuke suspired and replied evenly, "We are in peacetime after all, it won't kill the village for the kids to take their time about becoming contracted killers."

Shikamaru frowned, and was thankful Sasuke couldn't see it. Instead, the Nara asked drolly, "Your girl Yuki graduated at the top of the class I hear."

Sasuke filed away the fact that Shikamaru had indeed grimaced and was trying to hide it from him, but instead replied in a monotone, "She'd be offended to hear you called her a girl, but yes, it's true. Her grades are the best, and her jutsu is nothing to laugh at either."

"Offended?"

"Hn. She prefers the term, 'warrior', or 'ninja', or at the very least Woman with a capital W. She's...er...mature for her age."

Shikamaru laughed quietly. "She looks a lot like you did in your younger days...minus the female bits of course. Even her uniform is strongly reminiscent of the one you used to wear when we were genin."

"Hn." Sasuke nodded civilly. He really wasn't much of a talker, but he didn't want to be impolite, so he added, "It was easy to combine the Uchiha and Haruno symbols, thankfully. For the uniform..." Sasuke finished awkwardly. He gently pulled the sodden ends of his scarf out of Takeo's mouth, who then proceeded to chomp down on the corner of Sasuke's shirt. Teething was hard on his wardrobe. "So...Shikamaru-san, what brings you back to the Leaf? I can't imagine it's just for the graduation."

"Not much, really. Just here to help arrange the genin teams."

"You're hiding a scowl from me again. Either assembling the teams was 'too troublesome', to phrase it in your usual parlance, or you are hiding something else entirely from me." Sasuke was sure it was the latter; the usually laconic Shikamaru did not often pick conversations with the equally tight-lipped Uchiha for no good reason. Plus, Sasuke was fairly sure Shikamaru hadn't been officially scheduled to come home for at least another month.

"Oh?" Shikamaru replied, feigning surprise.

"Something is up."

Shikamaru sighed. "I was actually hoping to gather some information from you. I presume you've heard about the strange disappearances happening along the border?"

Sasuke choked back a yelp as Takeo bit into his side. "Hey little monster, that hurts daddy. Here, chew on this." Sasuke resigned himself to more slobber and handed the greedy infant the ends of his scarf to destroy, then turned back to Shikamaru. "I've heard a bit, but as you know, I'm still technically under house arrest...so...I don't get out much." Sasuke shrugged.

Shikamaru nodded and chewed his lower lip. "Well, it's nothing to trouble yourself about." Sasuke severely doubted that, but he sensed that the graduation ceremony had just let out, and they were being approached by their friends and family.

"Sure." He was sure Shikamaru would ask him more about it later, but for now, he wouldn't let the inquiry mar Yuki's graduation.

"Oi, Shikamaru-kun, I knew you'd come for Cho's big day! You really do care!" Ino squealed and grabbed the Nara by the crook of his arm.

"Ah, Ino, troublesome as always." But despite his words, he smiled at his blonde teammate.

"Shika, stop whining so much and get over here! I want Cho to show you her new jutsu!"

Shikamaru sighed. "I'll see you...later, Sasuke."

"Later then."

Sasuke shook his head to clear himself of foreboding thoughts, gathered Takeo up in his arms, and rose to meet his family.

"Saki, for the last time, no, I didn't cheat on the exams," Yuki exclaimed, exasperated beyond measure.

"Well, I don't understand how _you_ can be at the top of the class, since my jutsu-"

"Are still sub-par, Saki-_chan_."

"You want to go Yuki-_chan?_ Let's go, right here, right now, we'll see who the strongest-"

"Saki, can you cool it for one afternoon? Let's just enjoy and celebrate the fact that Yuki graduated with high marks from the academy, ok?" Sakura thumped Saki lightly over the head as she completed her sentence. Saki shot her mother a cantankerous glance and then proceeded to glower down at the ground.

"You are both excellent _warriors_." Sasuke placed a hand on Yuki's shoulder as he said this, and mentally congratulated himself by avoiding the word 'girls', and thus instant doom via sharp pointy objects from his children. He smiled slightly and continued, "Well done Yuki. You bring honor to the Uchiha name."

"Otousan? Can we spar?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "You mean, right now? Don't you want to enjoy-"

"I'm in a bad mood, ok?" Yuki frowned and petulantly chewed her lower lip.

While Sasuke would have been delighted to spar with his eldest daughter, he wasn't sure that now was the time and the place. "Why-"

Saki cut her father off and explained tersely, "She just found out who's on her team."

Sasuke chuckled, remembering how low his spirits had been after being placed on team seven. Beside him, Sakura nudged him in the side, as if to say that she too remembered that fateful day. They both smiled at this, but Sasuke dared not voice his own fond memories in front of his progeny- he was sure that they would use that information against him somehow. Seriously, having overly-intelligent children could often prove to be a major liability. In any event, he wondered if the rumors were true that Yuki would be paired with the rambunctious offspring of the Hokage. He replied blithely, "Oh come on, it can't be that-"

Sasuke blessed his acute ninja reactions, for he blocked Yuki's punch to his gut with his free hand just in time.

"Yuki-chan, I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't try to cause me bodily harm while I'm holding your younger brother." Sasuke sighed and handed the fussing baby to a frowning Sakura for safekeeping.

Saki moaned, "Otousan, how can you be so insensitive! Ryuu and Cho just got put on Yuki's _team!_ Her life is _over!"_ Saki flailed her arms dramatically while bouncing up and down to accentuate her point. Sakura rolled her eyes and broke in, "Ryuu and Cho are both fine ninja, I don't see what the problem-"

Saki, ever the impatient brat, broke in again, "_Hello,_ mom, first of all, Ryuu is… well, he's just…_Ryuu."_ Sasuke grinned at that; the apple really didn't fall far from the tree. Not only did Ryuu look like the spitting image of Naruto, but he was also equally...annoying. He could see why Yuki was not pleased at this development. Saki sputtered under her mother's quizzical glare but continued, "And to be paired up with Cho! I mean, who's ever heard of two girls on a team together- ouch! Owowowo! Yuki!"

Sasuke sighed. "Yuki, unhand your sister's ear." Yuki paused for a minute, gave Saki's earlobe one last good pull, and retracted her hand. Saki, screwing her face into a pout, glowered up at her sister as Sasuke commented dryly, "The only reason Yuki and Cho were paired together on a team is because Yuki and Cho are extremely talented ninja."

Yuki scoffed, "I wish I had been paired with Tadashi."

"Tadashi isn't even graduating this year." Sasuke shook his head; while Neji and Tenten's son was extremely talented, he was a year younger than the rest and wouldn't become a proper genin until next year. "Tell me some good news, who is your sensei?"

Even without sight, Sasuke could tell that the metaphorical cloud over Yuki's head had just become even darker, if that was even humanely possible.

While Yuki smoldered in silence, Sakura chuckled and muttered, "No one other than Konohamaru-san."

Well, that would certainly explain the bad mood. The only thing worse than having Naruto's son on your team would be to have the equivalent of Naruto's younger brother leading it.

Speaking of the devil, just then a rosy cheeked Ryuu came strolling over. "Oi! Yuki-chan! Do you think we'll get one of those awesome S-ranked missions to check out the boarder towns! I hear there's been monsters, and ghosts, and even werewolves-"

Yuki ground her teeth. "First of all, Yuki-san, or even Yuki-sama will do. If you ever, _ever_ use 'chan' at the end of my name... and second of all, there is no such thing as monsters, ghosts, or _werewolves. _Baka. Third of all, there's no way they are going to send a green rookie genin team like ours on a S-ranked mission. We'll be chasing cats and cleaning barns until you get your act together."

"Aw, Yuki-chan, don't be such a downer!"

"WHAT did I say about using _chan_?" Sakura subtly restrained her daughter from unleashing a barrage of kunai at Ryuu as Naruto and Hinata cheerfully approached. While their family had always been close to Naruto's, Yuki, ever the overly serious Uchiha, often had little patience with Ryuu's lack of common sense and gravitas.

"Hello, Hokage-Uncle-Naruto-sama!" Saki smiled cheerfully as she waved wildly to get his attention, her frazzled braid bouncing up and down on her back.

"Just Uncle Naruto will do, Saki-chan." He grinned and messed up Saki's hair even more than it already was before continuing, "Well, hello all! Congrats, Yuki-san, on graduating at the top of the class. I wouldn't expect anything less from Sasuke and Sakura's kid. They always did kick my ass when it came to academics," he mused nostalgically.

"Arigato, Hokage-sama." Yuki bowed formally to Naruto.

Naruto sighed- why, _why_ could Yuki never call him just plain Naruto? He supposed for some kids, adolescence just hit early. As for Yuki, she had all the physical signs of an early puberty: she was as tall as her father for one. And according to Sakura-chan, she had been pirating extra bindings to pin down, quote, 'her obnoxiously bouncy girly bits' (dear gods, he really wished Sakura-chan hadn't shared that particular bit of information with him). Even Naruto could see that emotionally, Yuki was already the angsty teenager at the tender age of ten; and although she was now looked upon in the ninja world as an adult, her parental units- 'Uncle Naruto' included- had a hard time digesting that fact. Naruto smiled. "Ah, Yuki-san, I hear Ryuu's been placed on your team. Try and watch out for him, ok?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Yuki responded in a dead-serious tone, as if she had been assigned an important mission from their village leader, instead of simply exchanging pleasantries with a family friend.

"Aw, dad, I don't need anyone looking out for me!"

Naruto schooled his features into a stern look and turned towards his son. "Unfortunately, your grades from the academy are too much like mine were. You could use someone competent looking out for you."

"Otousan! Come on, you got those grades and then you became the HOKAGE! I'll be, like, totally fine!" Ryuu's prepubescent voice squeaked in protest.

Saki snorted, "Ryuu, you should be honored to have my sister be looking after your sorry ass- I mean, rear! Rear! Your sorry rear!" Saki's eyes got wide with horror from the look Sakura was giving her due to her improper word choice.

"Not even Saki, I'm totally going to be Hokage some day, just like my dad!" Ryuu pointed to himself and smirked. Behind him, his younger sister Hoshiko smiled quietly and gave him a thumbs-up.

Yuki sighed painfully. "I'll try to make he doesn't do anything too stupid, Hokage-sama.

Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata and Naruto all had a good chuckle at that, while the younger ones gave them looks that ranged from slightly irked to exasperated.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading! Please, Review:)<em>


	3. Chapter 3: Conversations and Stars

Holy cow people! Thanks for all your reviews, favs, alerts, as well as all the communities that added this fic to their archive! Yay! *Author does joyous happy dance*

Well, I forgot to tell y'all something. **There is a playlist for this fic that is available to stream for free on grooveshark**. The link is http:/ /grooveshark. com/playlist/Song+Of+Aether/55716672

You can take out all those spaces in the link above or find the link in my profile:)

The playlist is also called "Song of Aether"

Anyway, I've decided to update two chapters in one this week, for two reasons. One: it will straighten out my numbering for all the chapters, and thus save me many headaches. This always happens when I start with a prologue.

And two, because I want to get this story rolling and gosh darn it, y'all deserve two chapters today!

Special, super awesome thanks to my beta **dazynl8**, for she is a jolly good beta:)

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><p>Chapter Two: Conversations<p>

_She said to me, "Sure as the wheeling of the stars_

_Death is the final song ringing on a poor man's guitar_

_Sure as the coming of winter and spring_

_Is the song of a sad life we all must sing."_

_~The Second Book Of The Songs Of Akash, Verse II_

It was a blessedly quiet morning. Yuki was off with her new team doing, to quote the preteen, 'irksome missions'. Saki was learning the henge-no-jutsu in class; she had rolled her eyes at breakfast this morning and had asked Sasuke in an exasperated tone if she could skip school that day, since she already knew the jutsu to perfection (his answer, of course, was no). Meanwhile, Takeo was playing with his building blocks in the corner of the living-room in content silence. Sasuke leaned against the wall and used his chakra to observe his son playing, and not for the first time he offered a silent prayer of thanks for his overly developed sensory capabilities.

After he lost his sight, Naruto tirelessly trained with Sasuke so that the returned rogue ninja could "see" with the aid of chakra. He supposed, in the end, he also had Karin to thank for this ability. Originally it was by watching her jutsu, with his now defunct sharingan, that he was able to master secondary sight through gathering chakra impressions. It had been difficult to retrain himself to rely on chakra perception, rather than his accustomed ocular acuity, but in the end the results were worth it. He smiled at his mind's impression of his son, thinking, _Some day, you will carry on the Uchiha line and name, little one._ Sasuke continued contemplating the peaceful domestic atmosphere for a moment, then gently pushed himself upright and took his guitar off the stand.

The instrument had been well loved: Sasuke had replaced the worn frets twice, carved a new bridge after Saki, as a toddler, destroyed it with a blunt object, and had replaced all the tuning pegs after Takeo decided they were his new favorite teething chewy not too long ago. Sasuke still wasn't sure why the metal pegs had been attractive to Takeo in the first place— after all, if Sasuke had been teething, he would have much preferred a couch cushion or something similarly squishy— but then again, he had long ago resigned himself to the fact that all his children were, in his opinion, freaks of nature.

The blue guitar brought back a lot of memories. After all, it had originally been a gift from Sakura just after he had returned to Konoha and had been placed in solitary confinement. Looking back, playing the instrument had been one of the only things standing between himself and the ocean of madness lapping at the borders of his brain. With Naruto and Sakura's encouragement, he transferred his vast knowledge of sound jutsu— originally gleaned from his service under Orochimaru— to playing music just for the sake of sound itself, sans any jutsu or killing intent. And ultimately, it was music that had brought Sasuke and Sakura together in the end; but that is a story for another time and place.

He sat down on the couch with a sigh and plucked a few chords; Takeo looked up from his place on the floor and clapped his hands. "Mu-seek! Mu-seek!" Sasuke smiled broadly and played a happy dancing tune from one of the villages along the southwestern boarder. Takeo began to rock back and forth, clapping in time to the music. _This one's got perfect rhythm...good._ Sasuke's breath slowed and he began to put a little bit of himself into the song:

_Sunlight streaming in through an open window, dancing through the glittering dust motes, twining its beams effervescently over a silver bowl filled with lemons. The light lent the fruit an almost heavenly halo, and the warmth filled the room with the scent of citrus. There was a warm breeze, and the red curtains hanging over the windows breathed, swelling like velvet sails. A child, long hair streaming out behind, hid in the fluttering folds, relishing the feel of the soft fabric against their cheek. Peace, as tangible as the aroma of lemons, filled the four walls along with the sunlight; it was an invisible yet felt presence, like the sound of a large, brass wind-chime singing slowly on the wind-_

All at once, there was a knock at the door, startling Sasuke out of his melodic reverie. _I must be getting soft, just like Saki said. I should have sensed someone coming long before they knocked._ Takeo frowned at the sudden end to the music and petulantly stuck a block in his mouth. Sasuke rose, reverently laid the guitar back on the stand, and stooped briefly to kiss his son on his soft head before making his way to the door.

"Ah, Hayato, what a surprise. What brings you here?"

Hayato made a face. "I came back to the village a few days ago, but the academy here is in the middle of a lesson I _already_ learned in Sunagakure, which is a _drag,_ so dad said I had to practice my flute playing with you, Sasuke-san."

"Ah, that was wise of Shikamaru. Have you been practicing?"

Hayato scrunched up his face again and shyly toed the floor. "Um... a little?"

"Hn." Sasuke would take that as a no. "Come on in then."

Hayato took off his shoes and shuffled into the living room. "Hey, Takeo." The dour looking boy waved at the babe.

Takeo smiled widely and stuttered, "Hi-to! Hi-to!"

"Hey, he knows my name!" Hayato genuinely grinned at that.

"Hn. I think you gave him candy or something last time you were here. Ok, let's start with a basic flute—"

Sasuke stopped, as Hayato was completely ignoring him and fishing in his pockets for more candy to give to Takeo. "Oh look, here, I've got a mint. Can I give it to Takeo, Sasuke-san?"

"Mmmm." Hayato wasted another five minutes making a ritual of giving Takeo the treat; Takeo made such adorable happy noises though that Sasuke didn't mind. Anything that involved making his son happy was alright by him, even if that happiness came via the forbidden refined sugar that Sakura liked to deprive her children of. _Well then, it's a good thing Sakura isn't here to see this..._

Usually Sasuke liked to schedule the times he would give lessons, but Hayato went between Konoha and Suna so often, he let the troll have an open invite. Of course, the poor kid was often _forced_ to come over— Sasuke suspected it was because his parents enjoyed their 'alone time'— but Sasuke knew that deep down Hayato enjoyed the lessons. At least, that's what Sasuke liked to tell himself.

It had been during Sasuke and Sakura's eighth year of marriage, when Yuki and Saki started up at the academy and Sasuke was dead bored. That's when Naruto had one of his 'brilliant ideas'.

"_Sasuke-kun, we've got to put you back to work!"_

_Sasuke sat across from the Hokage in his office, moodily sipping his tea. "If Sakura would just let me have another baby-"_

_Naruto waved his hands, "Listen, I know you love being a house hubby and all, but you also happen to be one of Konoha's best ninja-"_

_Sasuke interrupted, "I'm done with being a ninja. The only time I'm ever going to do-"_

"_I know, I know, you've said it a million times." Naruto rolled his eyes, and in his best Uchiha Sasuke impression muttered, "'Naruto, the only time I'm ever going to do ninjutsu or taijutsu again is when I'm sparing with my children.' Can we stop interrupting each other now?"_

_Sasuke crossed his arms. "When you have something intelligent to say, I'll stop interrupting."_

"_Teme. What I was _**going**_ to say was that not only are you one of Konoha's best ninja, but you are an __extremely talented musician. I was thinking-"_

"_That's dangerous, thinking. I hear it can lead to your head exploding."_

"_Teme!"_

"_Sorry, I couldn't resist. Finish your thought," Sasuke replied with a smirk._

"_Gah! What I was _**trying**_ to say! Wouldn't it be great if we could make Konoha a center for the arts! I mean, I've already got the ninja who retired after the last war putting their ninjutsu to peaceful uses, like farming, construction, even textile production. Did you know that Yamato can use the wood jutsu to make the most amazing fabrics by-"_

_"Dobe. Cut to the chase."_

_Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, heh, heh. Anyway, I was thinking you could start giving music lessons. To the kids in the village, ninja and civilians- we've got plenty of money in the treasury, I could start a fund to encourage kids to learn music! I just think that would be the coolest idea!" Naruto was practically bouncing up and down in his chair._

_Sasuke rubbed his chin. "Well...yeah. It's actually not a bad idea." Especially since Sakura had just been complaining that with two kids, they were a bit short on funds, and if Sasuke wanted to have more babies _(Yes! Yes!) _then they would have to figure out a way to earn more money..._

_Naruto grinned, "See! Then, Konoha can be famous for something beautiful, like music, and not just for military strength! YOSH!" In his excitement, the blond sprang out of his chair and began to pace frenetically, pontificating wildly with his arms. Sasuke shook his head at the overly-dramatic dobe as Naruto continued, "I think I'm going to make music a required class at the academy too, hell, if all we ever did was learn how to kill people with our bare hands, what kind of people would that make us? I think music is the key to bringing-"_

"_Naruto. I'll do it. Spare me the lecture."_

"_Oi! Teme! I was just getting worked up about it! You always ruin my good speeches." Naruto crossed his arms and scrunched up his face in a pout._

"_Hn." Sasuke grinned at that._

"Um...Sasuke-san?"

"Oh, sorry Hayato. Must have zoned out there. Ok, why don't you show me what you've been practicing with your flute." Sasuke shook his head to bring himself back to present time. _I really must be getting soft. All this peacetime and domesticity has blunted my brain functions. _

Hayato began playing and Sasuke winced at the sour notes that followed. It was going to be a long afternoon after all.

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><p>After a grueling hour of teaching Hayato, who obviously <em>never<em> practiced his damn instrument at home, there was a knock at the door.

"Wait here Hayato, I'll let your dad in." Sasuke quickly made his way to the door, cracked it open, and whispered, "Thank Kami you're here."

Shikamaru grinned. "That bad, huh?"

"Worse than bad. Awful. Make your kid practice."

"But it hurts my ears," the lazy genius dryly retorted.

"Cry me a river, then build me a bridge and get over it."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "I'd actually like to talk to you before I collect Hayato."

Sasuke nodded; he had expected as much. "Hayato, will you keep an eye on Takeo for me? I've got to talk to your dad about your progress."

"Ok! Sure! Hey, Takeo, let's build a really high tower with your blocks, ok?"

Takeo started clapping happily. Sasuke smiled and exited the front door, closing it gently behind him; but his smile rapidly dissolved into a grimace as the Uchiha turned to face Shikamaru. There was a moment of silence between the two men, and Sasuke had the distinct feeling of his stomach knotting up worse than one of Sakura's failed knitting projects. And that was really saying something, considering that most of her wool hats ultimately turned into contorted mobius strips, or as Saki liked to call them, 'modern art'.

Sasuke cleared his throat, unable to bear the silence any longer, and ventured, "It's about the disappearing people on the boarder, isn't it?"

Shikamaru pursed his lips and exhaled. "Can't get anything past you, can I. I've been wanting to ask you a few questions about Madara's transport jutsu. I've never had any personal contact with it, and you are the one...who had the most experience with it," Shikamaru tactfully concluded his sentence.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. _Madara's been dead for over ten years...why would Shikamaru want to know about him?_ He felt a something akin to lead settle into the pit of his stomach, but he forced himself to speak with his usual nonchalance. "Madara had about 10 different dimensions he could teleport between. He could also teleport within our dimension through certain areas that he had marked previously with a symbol. And of course, he could de-solidify his body at will."

Shikamaru nodded. "From the reports of the last war, it seems like Madara was able to deconstruct himself and whatever he touched into small particles of matter, and then transported them to his desired destination. Would you say that the deconstructed particles moved in a circular, counterclockwise pattern before becoming transported matter?"

Sasuke did not like where this was going. "Hai. It was...kind of a swirl."

Shikamaru nodded. "Thanks. That's all I wanted to know," he murmured, but he made no motion to leave.

There was a moment of awkward silence. Sasuke passed a hand through his hair, feeling the beginning of a tension headache gathering at the base of his skull. A question formed in the back of his throat, but it died many times before he finally gathered the nerve to voice it.

"He's alive, isn't he?" Sasuke asked at last, sotto voce.

Shikamaru sighed heavily. "It's all conjecture at this point...but..."

"The people who are disappearing- do they seem to be transported in a circular swirl...?"

Shikamaru rubbed his aching temples. "Hai."

Sasuke forced himself to take a deep breath and to unclench his teeth. "I'll help however I can." In the background, he could hear their two children playing in the living-room, laughing with childlike innocence. _I'll help with my life, if need be...whatever it takes to finally kill that bastard._ A wave of guilt laden nausea passed through Sasuke— he discreetly put a hand on the railing to steady himself as his other hand clenched his stomach_. If it weren't for me...then Madara might have been defeated long before there was even a war to begin with...let alone been able to reappear over a decade later. _

Sasuke balled his hands into fists, thinking angry, barely coherent thoughts. Why him? Why now, when his life was finally functional? _It's all my fault for being a selfish, self-serving asshole...no one told me to join the Akatsuki and aid them. No one told me to take on Madara as my sensei; in fact, Itachi tried to make it so I burned the bastard in a thick cloud of amaterasu the minute I laid eyes on his sharingan..._ No, Sasuke really had no one to blame but himself. If Madara was back, then it was certainly his fault; karma, he thought bitterly, was a bitch. Sasuke shook his head, but Shikamaru thankfully looked away.

"Thank you," Shikamaru replied softly as he lit a cigaret and inhaled deeply. "By the way... Don't tell the little lady I'm smoking again, if she found out, she would nag me to death— "

Just then, Hayato ran out of the house. "Dad! Mom says you're not allowed to do that!" He shot his father an accusatory glare and placed his hands on his hips. Sasuke, even without sight, received a sensory impression that reminded him very much of one formidable, blonde, Sand kunoichi.

Shikamaru grumbled something under his breath along the lines of, "Troublesome kid, must have a sixth sense about when I'm smoking. Troublesome wife, must have told the kid to keep an eye on me," before stubbing out the offending stick of tobacco. He cleared his throat and offered, "Let's make a deal, Hayato-kun. You don't tell mom about what you just saw, and I won't tell her how you haven't been practicing your flute."

Hayato gulped, his righteous anger instantly fading from his face. "Um...ok."

Shikamaru laughed at that and waved to Sasuke. "Thanks again for the lesson. We'll see you around."

"See you," Sasuke murmured. He stood for a moment on the front steps without moving.

Finally, he entered the house and closed the door in a daze. Takeo cooed at him from the floor; Sasuke summarily picked up his son and held him close, despite the baby's protests. A bittersweet smile graced Sasuke's face, and he kissed the baby on the crown of his head. "I love you, Takeo-chan."

The baby instantly brightened at that. "Wove ooh! Wove ooh dada!"

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><p>Chapter 3: Stars<p>

_Said I, "Surely, there is more than death_

_That encapsulates the mystery of life itself_

_For all the wheeling of the stars_

_You are merely taking things as they are."_

_~The Second Book Of The Songs Of Akash, Verse III_

"Come in, come in, Red Monarch. This is Black Crow. Target is in sight, I repeat, target is in sight," Yuki stated before lowering her binoculars and jotting down the coordinates.

"Ohmygwad, Cho, I just picked like, _the biggest booger," _a male voice chimed in over the line.

Silence.

"Kchhhh. Ryuu. I really didn't need to know about that," one disgruntled Cho responded.

"Come on Cho, you know you want to see! It's like, friggin' huge! Kchhhh."

"EWWWW!" There was monumental feedback as Cho screamed this into the walkie talkie.

"Ouch, Cho-y-chan, that was, like, my ear!" Ryuu grimaced and massaged his offended ears.

There was an aggravated sigh from Yuki on the walkie-talkie line. "Guys? Can you two fuck-ups concentrate for once? I said, the TARGET is in SIGHT." Yuki wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead, and readjusted her position on the black rooftop as she glowered down at the communication unit in her hand. Below her, the target was pilfering some fish from one of the many market stalls. While the tall apartment building upon which she was perched offered the perfect view of the square below, between the noonday sun beating down on her back and the black tar under her feet burning the soles of her feet, Yuki was less than comfortable. Pair that with the maladroit conversation crackling over the walkie-talkie and the unappetizing stench rising up from the fish market below, and Yuki was more likely to kill the target than capture it...

Cho quickly regained her composure. "What are your coordinates, Yuki-san?"

There was another exasperated sigh. "Hello? Remember, when we're on the walkie-talkies I'm Black Crow and you're Red Monarch?"

"Kchhh. Hey guys, what was my code name again? I, like, forgot," Ryuu asked sheepishly.

"Baka! Gold _Dragon_. How the fuck could you forget that? It's the literal meaning of your own _name._ Gah!" Yuki proceeded to slap her face, which echoed comically over the communications line.

"Kchhh. Yo, Yuki-san, watch your language," Cho admonished her comrade.

"Gah! _Red Monarch_, don't use my real fucking name over the walkie— oh shit."

"Haha, you just cursed again Yuki-chan!" Ryuu giggled. Yuki was always riding their asses to be professional, and using proper language was one of her many hang-ups. It was especially fulfilling to Ryuu when he got their self-appointed team leader to cuss.

"FOR KAMI'S SAKE, GOLD DRAGON, BECAUSE YOU ARE SUCH A REJECT, I JUST LOST SIGHT OF OUR TARGET."

Silence.

"Shit. Sensei said we aren't allowed to eat lunch until we catch that cat," Ryuu replied mournfully as his stomach rumbled.

"Black Crow? Hey, this is Red Monarch. Sorry about that. Let's try to find the kitty again, ok?"

Yuki sighed yet again. "Red Monarch, this is Black Crow. For the purpose of this communication, please refer to 'Mr. Fluffy' as _the target._ Do you guys roger that?"

"Hey Yuki-chan, who's Rodger? Is that Mr. Fluffy's codename?" Ryuu inquired innocently.

Epic groaning from his female teammates echoed over the communications line.

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><p>Yuki trudged home that day in a really, <em>really<em> awful mood. It was almost as if her misery congealed around her to form a big, black cloud that hovered over her head and blocked out the sun. She opened the door to the house, kicked off her shoes, and stomped up the stairs to her room.

"Hey, Yuki, let's spar!" Saki called from across the hallway.

The only response was Yuki's door slamming shut.

Saki waltzed over to her sister's door and shouted through it, "Yo, Yuki, did you hear me?"

"Bugger off," was the muffled reply.

"Mooooooom! Yuki's being mean to me again!"

Sakura, who had just returned home herself about twenty minutes previously, sighed. "Saki, leave your sister alone."

"But mooooooom-"

"Saki, if you want to spar, go ask your father."

Saki bounced down the steps and turned her pouting face towards her mother. "Nah, he's no fun. How about you mom, do you want to spar?" Saki asked oh-so-hopefully.

Sakura smiled as she plopped down on the couch with a cold beverage. "Heck no. I've been on my feet for the past 12 hours doing three surgeries, two blood transfusions, and delivering a set of twins. Either rub my feet or go find something else to do." With a wicked smile, Sakura kicked off her house slippers and wiggled her feet in Saki's general direction.

Saki scrunched up her face and replied, "Mom, you have, like, the world's smelliest feet."

"Hey, I resent that, I just showered."

"No amount of soap can help the foot funk that you've—" Saki's tirade was cut short as she had to dodge a cheesy romance novel her mother chucked at her head. "Oh, forget it. Can I go play with Hoshiko, mom?"

"Sure. Why don't you see if you can invite yourself over to Naruto and Hinata's for dinner too, because if you stay here all you'll get is frozen pizza."

"Nani? How come dad's not cooking?"

"He's giving music lessons to Tadashi all afternoon. Tadashi-kun is getting ready to play a concert for Hiashi-sama's birthday, so he needed the extra practice."

"Duh, mom, how can I spar with dad like you said if he's giving music lessons! Gah! You are like, so impossible." _Parents...!_

Saki crossed her arms in a huff, then stomped over to the doorway to shove her feet into her hot pink sandals. However, just as she was about to open the door, a look that screamed, 'Eureka! I've got it!' crossed her face and she began to bounce on the balls of her feet. "Oh, wait a minute- did you just say _Tadashi _is over right now? Like, _the _Hyuga Tadashi?" Saki's eyes got wide. Everyone knew that Tadashi was _the_ coolest kid in school. "Maybe I could...just hang out while Tadashi gets his lesson? I'm sure dad wouldn't—"

Sakura chuckled and broke in, "Go play with Hoshiko-chan. See you later troll!"

Saki rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Love you too." Raising her voice a few octaves, she practically shouted, "Tell Tadashi I say hi, ok? Ok! Promise you'll tell him! OK?" Saki bounced up and down impatiently as she waited for her mother's answer.

"Ok, ok!" Sakura waved her daughter off and proceeded to lay down on the couch. She heard an indignant snort and the door closing before blessed quiet returned to the living room once more. And before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

The next thing she was cognizant of was someone tapping her in the middle of her forehead.

"Mmm, nani?" Sakura mumbled. Even without opening her eyes, she knew it was Sasuke, and she idly noted that he smelled like soy sauce.

"You want dinner, Sakura-chan?"

"Hmm." She pulled on his wrists and made him sit down next to her on the couch. "Depends. What's on the menu?"

Sasuke chuckled, "Well, _you_ were going to have me make frozen pizza, but _I_ decided that our family needed some proper nutrition. So I made broccoli stir-fry with beef. Where are the girls, by the way?"

"Saki's over at Naruto and Hinata's, and Yuki is sulking in her room."

Sasuke frowned; he had been looking forward to having dinner together as a family. On the other hand though, at least Yuki and Saki wouldn't bicker the whole time they ate if Saki was away. "Alright, well, I'll go collect Yuki then."

However, five minutes later, Yuki refused to leave her room and Sakura had fallen asleep again on the couch. Sasuke sighed and retreated to the kitchen, where Takeo was smooshing a strawberry all over the white tiled floor. "No rest for the wicked I suppose." Sasuke smiled and scooped the baby up and plopped him in his highchair. "Looks like it's just you and me tonight kid."

Takeo reached out for Sasuke's shirt and smeared some more strawberry goo on him. "Wred! W-red!"

Apparently, Takeo was an aspiring artist.

Sasuke sighed and began cutting up pieces of broccoli into tiny, bite sized pieces for the little monster.

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><p>A few hours later, the dishes were washed, a plate of food was left in front of Yuki's door, Saki called and said she was sleeping over Uzumaki Hoshiko's, Takeo and Pookey the yellow rubber ducky were bathed in the sink, and then Takeo and Shmookey the fuzzy orange teddy bear were put to bed. Sasuke sighed wearily as he closed the door to Takeo's room and made his way back down the stairs.<p>

Sakura was still sprawled out on the couch, a small trail of drool traveling down her cheek. Scooping her up gently, Sasuke made his way back up the stairs and deposited Sakura in bed, pulling the covers up over her prone body. He made sure to leave a glass of water and a granola bar by the bed for when Sakura woke up at three in the morning with a ravenous stomach from having skipped dinner (again). Before exiting, he brushed a stray pink tendril of hair out of her face and kissed her cheek. "Really, you're so typical. Stop working so hard all the time woman," he whispered somewhat gruffly over her unconscious form. She merely mewed in her sleep and rolled over. Sasuke smiled.

Silently, he picked up his guitar from the corner of the bedroom and made his way to the roof. It was a quiet, warm night. Sasuke found his favorite perch— the chimney really did make the perfect back support— and sat down heavily. He looked up, sightlessly, at the sky, and wished he was able to sense the position of the stars, which were too far away for him to feel with his chakra. From what he could tell from the wind and the temperature, it must have been a clear night, and Saki had said something earlier that day about it being the perfect time of year to see meteors. In fact, it had been so many years since he could see that he was starting to forget the shapes and colors of things: the viridian hue of the spring grass in the meadows, the curve of the sky as it meets the horizon, the way Sakura's eyes crinkled when she heard a really funny joke. The stars glimmering softly in the frozen velvet of night...

And then there were the things he had never seen at all— his children's faces for one. What did Yuki look like on the rare occasions when she chanced a smile? Or Saki, when she scrunched up her face in her classic, 'you have disturbed the queen of the world' pouts? And Takeo, the surely adorable expression he wore when he started dancing along to a piece of music? Sasuke shook his head to dispel his ridiculous thoughts. At a time like this, with unrest brewing at the borders of the country, and the possibility of Madara remerging, it seemed as though the simple things were the ones getting him down the most tonight.

Curiously, Sasuke wasn't too surprised that Madara might be at large, even despite the fact that Sasuke had ostensibly izanagi-ed his ass into the ground during the last war. Madara was a tough old psychopath, and he hadn't survived to be 100 years plus by being weak. Sasuke supposed he had been naïve to have automatically assumed Madara dead without having his rotting corpse exhumed properly to attest to the fact. But Madara's body had never been found after the war; Sasuke had told himself that the body was lost to the burning flames of amaterasu and simply believed Naruto when he said that Madara was really and truly dead...

However, the possibility that Madara might return often haunted his dreams, despite his faith in Naruto. Because Madara was the monster behind the scenes, who had orchestrated the demise of his clan; who had set Sasuke against Konoha; and who, in the end, had controlled Sasuke more aptly than a Suna puppeteer commanded his marionettes... Sasuke had fought this nagging awareness for the last ten years while trying to lead a semi-normal life, chalking his paranoia up to post traumatic stress and to his own damaged psyche. To say that he was feeling ill at ease for the new intel on Madara was the understatement of the century— it seemed his worst fears were being realized. Sasuke sighed again and cradled his guitar closer to his body, and began to play a slow, mournful tune.

_The moon sets in the west, and in the hour before the sun rises, the night is thick and black like a smoldering, smokey fire. Murky clouds cover the heavens, obscuring any possible starlight, causing the sleeping and sighing people to feel claustrophobic in their beds, in their dreams. An owl blinks, weary at the end of a long night, but waiting to catch just one more mouse before retiring. And suddenly, he hears the tiny cheeping sounds of baby birds in the nest, sleepy sounds, the kind that come from happy, sweet dreams. The owl swoops down from his high branch slowly and studies the scene— two birds sleep soundly over the nest, their young brood tucked in beneath their soft wings._

_The owl cocks his head to the side, unsure if he wants to go through all the trouble of fighting off two parents while he hunts their young, but finally his stomach rumbles and decides for him. He toes his perch with a wicked talon and then swoops down, neatly knocking the mother bird off the nest with his momentum. Blind in the dark night, she flutters wildly and squawks, while her partner lunges out, sightlessly trying to attack the intruder. But unlike the birds, the owl's eyes are trained for the night, he easily avoids their sharp beaks and small claws. He languidly flutters away, carrying a helpless baby chick in his talons, its frail cheeps echoing coldly in the seamless darkness before its call ceases altogether._

"Kami dad, that was a depressing song. Makes me want to jump off the roof or something."

"Ah, Yuki-san. It's late." he replied, nonplussed.

"Hn."

"Did you eat your dinner?"

"Mmm hmmm."

"You're welcome."

"Thanks." Yuki perched next to her father on the roof and hugged her knees into her chest. The breeze blew gently, and they enjoyed a moment of silence together.

_She's so much like me, Kami help her. Moody and laconic and serious all the time. She would have been better off taking after Sakura, like Saki-chan..._

"Stop thinking about me. I can practically _hear_ you."

Sasuke snorted. "I'll think about you if I want to. You're my kid, after all."

Yuki huffed at that and replied sullenly, "I'm an adult now." She pointed to her headband.

Sasuke grinned, sensing her gesture. "What color is the band?"

"That's a dumb question." Yuki's lips were pressed in a thin line.

"There are no dumb questions, only dumb people. It's not hot pink, is it?"

"Ha. Ha. Do I look like Saki to you?"

"Now _that's_ a dumb question. I can't see either of you, so how should I know if you look like Saki?"

Yuki slapped her face. "First of all, that was a _rhetorical _question. Second of all, I'm sure you have a sense of what we look like. Half the time I forget you're even blind, what with your damned chakra sensing."

Sasuke shook his head. Yuki had no idea how wrong she was. Oh, it was certainly handy to be able to sense movement and basic facial expressions with chakra, but it lacked a certain fullness. It was like trying to appreciate a colorful painting by studying a black and white line drawing of it, or trying to understand a symphony by merely reading the sheet music; it lacked emotion, vibrancy, depth. Veracity.

Sasuke shook his depressing thoughts away and instead replied lightheartedly, "Oh, you'd like it if I couldn't sense anything at all, wouldn't you brat? Then you could get away with all kinds of irresponsible things."

Yuki seemed offended. "I don't do anything irresponsible."

Sasuke retorted, "You don't have to be so upset. It was a joke. Anyway, what did you come up here to ask me?"

Yuki grimaced. "I couldn't sleep, and then your creepy song creeped me out."

"Ha. I see."

"No, you don't."

Sasuke sighed. "Figure of speech. Mom told me you had a tough day."

"How the heck did she find out?" Yuki snapped, somewhat startled.

"Mmmm, parental intuition I suppose. But now you have just confirmed it."

There was a moment of silence.

Yuki hid her head in her hands and sighed. "I don't want to talk about it."

Sasuke nodded wisely. "You want to spar?" With all of Sasuke's 'motherly' duties, which included cooking, cleaning, and watching over Takeo twenty-four-seven, he didn't often have time to train with his older children. The offer was a rarity and a real treat for both of them. As he had hoped, Sasuke sensed that Yuki was now grinning, and strangely he was filled with a painful desire to actually see her expression with his own eyes. _I wonder what shape and color her eyes are when her smile reaches upwards...do the corners of her eyes crinkle? Do her irises sparkle, as if flecks of stardust and mirrors had somehow gotten lost in their depths? _

Sasuke's slightly existential musings were brought to a halt by Yuki's enthusiastic reply. "Hai, otousan!"

Sasuke smiled back at his eldest daughter and raised himself up from his sitting position. "I know a good place." He told himself he wouldn't go too hard on the troll; after all, she had just had a bad day. _But I won't go too easy on her either!_ he thought somewhat sadistically. Because really, how else would she learn if Sasuke didn't try to take the stuffing out of her once in a while?

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><p><em>an it helps me to be a better author when I get your input; please let me know what you think via the blue button below:)_


	4. Chapter 4: Moonlight and Meteors

Chapter 4

**Moonlight and Meteors**

_Said she, taking herbs in her hand,_

_Mullien, Lambs-Wool, and Lilly-Of-The-Land,_

"_What can we speak that has not been said?_

_What can live that has not been dead?_

_~The Second Book Of Akash, Verse IV  
><em>

The cool moonlight streamed down through the trees, dappling the ground beneath the oaks with silver puddles, pooling like liquid in the open meadow. The forest was deathly quiet. Yuki suppressed the urge to move an errant lock of hair out of her face and instead concentrated on masking her chakra signature. _He's not to the right...not to the the left...not in front or behind...he's not above me. Where did he—_

Yuki's mental calculations were suddenly interrupted as a hand emerged from the earth and grabbed her ankles.

"You let your guard down!" Sasuke shouted triumphantly as his head materialized from the ground.

Yuki smirked. "Hn." Her form disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Sasuke clutching at a log. Before he could congratulate her on her stealth, he was forced to dodge a barrage of kunai. Sasuke grinned before melting back into the shadows; it was time to plan his counter-attack.

_I can't use lightening or fire;__ that would give my position away for sure, _Sasuke mused. _Or... can I? _He covertly made a few hand signs and created a shadow clone. As the real Sasuke disappeared in the darkness, his clone wielded a bit of lightening chakra—

And then, the clone was promptly taken out by the precise throw of Yuki's shuriken. Sasuke grinned**. **_So that's your position..._ He applauded himself on his excellent diversion as he funneled chakra into his feet. He leapt directly behind his daughter, chucking half a dozen kunai in her direction. Just when Sasuke thought he had cornered Yuki, she disappeared in a puff of smoke. A blunt object struck him from behind; it more surprised than harmed him, and before he could gather his wits again, he had been bound in ninja wire.

Yuki stood in front of him and pouted. "Come on, dad! You didn't have to go easy on me just to make me feel better."

Sasuke bit his tongue; he was glad they hadn't landed in a patch of moonlight, or she would have seen the color rising in his face. "Hn. You actually got me that time," Sasuke muttered as he extracted himself from the wire and dusted himself off. He shook his head; he wasn't totally pleased at his inglorious defeat at the hands of a ten-year-old, but he supposed that his pride in his eldest daughter would outweigh his embarrassment...eventually.

His daughter harrumphed and crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned back against a tree. "Either you're lying or you're getting soft in your old age."

Sasuke chuckled. "Have you considered the fact that you've actually improved?"

Yuki ground her teeth. "Not possible. With the rejects I have for teammates, the opportunity I have for improvement is slim to none. So I suppose that means you're becoming infirm... decrepit even."

Sasuke chucked a kunai at his rebellious progeny, which she gracefully caught with a flick of her fingers. Yuki smiled. "What, dad? Can't take the 'old man' jokes?" Sasuke grunted in offense and Yuki actually chortled at his show of wounded pride.

Sasuke moaned and threw himself down in a patch of moonlight in the open field, only to gaze blindly up at the night sky. Yuki grinned and sat beside him, twirling a kunai. "What, we're done sparring already? Did I tire you out, grandpa?"

Sasuke snorted. "Listen, you keep up with a toddler all day, and then we'll see who can spar like the energizer bunny."

"The energizer what now?"

Sasuke exhaled slowly. "Never mind." He sighed again. "Yuki-chan, look up at the sky."

Yuki rolled her eyes but didn't chide him for the fact that he used the dreaded c-h-a-n honorific after her name. She lay down on the moon-drenched grass and looked up at the flickering constellations. "What am I looking at?"

"See any meteors?"

"No."

Silence ensued. Crickets chirped in the distance; an owl hooted in the trees somewhere above their heads.

"What about now?"

Yuki sighed. "Nope."

Sasuke fingered the ends of his scarf. "Are you sure you don't see—"

"Gah, dad, could you _be_ any more annoying!" the preteen moaned. But suddenly, her breath caught, and she practically shouted, "Oh! Oh! Oooooooh! Snap!"

"Mmmm?"

"I just saw a meteor! It was awesome! Oh! Wow..."

Sasuke grinned. _She may act like the big bad Uchiha, but inside, she's still a ten year old girl._ Sasuke himself had been twelve when he and his teammates were made genin, but he had been one significantly fucked up mental case at the time. But despite that fact, and the reality that he had gone up against high-level ninja and even killed a few before his thirteenth birthday, he still managed to engage in somewhat normative, and even _playful_, behavior from time to time. When team seven tried to unmask Kakashi-sensei was one of the more notable occasions where Sasuke actually cracked a rare smile. _I'm glad that the hard exterior falls away from time to time..._

"Yuki, what does it look like?"

"What?"

"The _meteor_."

"Oh." She furrowed her brows in thought. "Like a giant red and yellow streak across the sky." She frowned at her maladroit description. "No...more like a golden ball with a glowing tail...um, or like...a shooting star, but brighter, and streakier. Can you picture it?"

"Uh-huh," he lied. "You should make a wish."

"A wish? That's kid's stuff!" she huffed.

Sasuke shook his head. "Haven't you ever heard the story of when Naruto and Hinata had trouble having a second child? They wished on a shooting star and were finally able to have Hoshiko. Say what you will, but wishing on shooting stars works," he murmured in an authoritative voice.

"Oh. So that's where Hoshiko gets her name from... Hoshiko, meaning 'Star Child'..." Yuki was thoughtful for a moment, but then protested, "Ok, but that was a _star_, and this is a meteor—"

"If you wait too long to make your wish, the magic will run out."

That shut her up. He could tell her brows were creased in thought. Finally, she sighed and leaned back in the grass.

"Did you make your wish, Yuki-chan?"

"Uh huh."

"What was it?"

Yuki shook her head and retorted a bit crossly, "I can't tell you that. Then it won't come true. You're the one always going on about how to wish on stars...or meteors...or whatever." She stretched her arms up over her head and sighed again before venturing, "Otousan?"

"Hmm?"

"Are there...exercises you can do to awaken the sharingan?"

Sasuke tilted his head. "Not that I know of..."

Yuki sighed deeply, and from her disappointed tone, Sasuke had a much better understanding of what she had probably just wished for. "In a hurry?"

She ignored him and countered, "How did your sharingan awaken?"

Sasuke tried to keep his expression smooth, but he couldn't help but clench his teeth. After all, his sharingan activated the night of the Uchiha massacre, during a bout of mangekyo-sharingan induced insanity. Needless to say, he wasn't keen on telling her that little fact. While the events of the Uchiha massacre were somewhat common knowledge, there were still some details that were not, and he preferred to keep it that way. _At least until Yuki is old enough... Maybe I'll tell her everything when she becomes a chunin..._

But of course, he didn't properly _use_ the sharingan until the mission to the Land of Mist...so it wouldn't be lying to overlook what had truly awakened his doujutsu. "I was twelve and protecting Naruto. I nearly died."

Yuki nodded, having recently overheard her parents reminiscing with the Hokage about this particular incident one night as they drank sake in the Uchiha's kitchen. Yuki mused aloud, "I read that it usually takes an intense catalyst to activate the sharingan early..." Here, she sighed. "But I'm afraid I won't be receiving any high classed missions with my lousy team."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "First of all, I was sent on a high ranking mission by _accident_, and if you weren't paying attention the first time, I'll tell you again— I almost _died._ It's not a bad thing to wait until your ocular jutsu awakens on its own. There's no hurry. Second of all—" He was about to defend the honor of her teammates, Kami help him, but Yuki interrupted him at that moment.

"You don't understand at all," she huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. A hapless cricket jumped onto her forehead; Sasuke felt sorry for the creature as Yuki took out her consternation upon its person with a violent swat of her hand.

He gently murmured, "You're _already_ an accomplished ninja. I'm _already_ exceedingly proud of you, and even if you never awaken the sharingan—"

"That's just it! What if it _never_ activates! What if..." At that, Yuki shut up, realizing she had already revealed too much. Sasuke could feel the frustration and sadness radiating off of her as she pulled her arms tighter across her torso.

Sasuke sighed and tried again. "If it never activates, you'll find other jutsu to develop. You're already far more advanced in fire jutsu than I was at your age—"

Yuki sighed, exasperated beyond measure, and broke into Sasuke's speech yet again. "How can I be the proper Uchiha heir without the sharingan? I can't, that's the answer." Yuki rolled over on her side and faced away from her father.

Ah. So she was worried about being good enough to be the next head of the Uchiha clan. Sasuke congratulated himself on finding out the root cause of her latest bout of angst and ventured, "Yuki. You're ten. You have plenty of time—"

It seemed that Sasuke was not going to be able to complete a full sentence at all that night; Yuki vehemently derailed his train of thought once again and hissed, "No, _no_ I don't. It's already clear that you're favoring _Takeo_, the precious _male_ child— you're always going on and on about how he's going to lead the clan one day. Hell, you even named him 'Warrior Hero.' You named me freaking 'Happy Snow.' Do you know how non-threatening 'Happy Snow' sounds? Do you? Even if I have the good luck of facing a high ranking enemy ninja, as soon as he learns my name he is going to laugh in my freakin' face." Yuki paused for a moment, ostensibly to steady her voice, before continuing, "It doesn't matter how hard I train. Because I lack a certain piece of genitalia, I'll never be good enough." _For you..._

The unspoken end of her sentence rang in the pregnant silence between them. Sasuke heard his own words reverberating in his skull: "_Some day, Takeo-kun, you will carry on the Uchiha line and name, my little one." "Thank Kami there's another man in the house. You won't be naughty and cruel like your sisters, will you?" _Sasuke could have slapped himself right then. He had spent the last ten years trying to be the opposite of his father in every way— his father, who never treated him as more than Itachi's shadow— but apparently Sasuke had ended up acting just like him. If he was honest with himself, he knew that his daughter's words had a bit of truth to them.

Yuki huffed, then propped herself up on her hands and made to leave, but Sasuke firmly grasped her wrist. He began, a bit guiltily, "Yuki. You're ten. Takeo, your supposed arch rival, is barely two. I'm going to be honest with you, I hadn't given any thought to who's going to be—"

"Any _conscious_ thought. Anyone with a pulse knows it's going to be Takeo, because let's be honest, female kunoichi will never be as strong as their male counterparts." She yanked her arm back and stood up.

Sasuke exhaled slowly, trying to think something he could say for damage control. "Yuki, have you ever wondered why you were placed on a team with two kunoichi, yourself included? When there hasn't been a team with more than one female member in the past 50 years in this village?"

She stood with her hands on her hips and glowered down at her father. "Hn."

"Because you are considered just as strong, if not stronger, than anyone in your class, male _or_ female. So the council felt justified in putting Cho on your team; they knew you'd be able to cover her back."

Somewhat mollified, Yuki lowered her arms, though her glower of doom continued. "Hn."

Sasuke, an adept ninja able to read underneath the underneath, understood that she was really saying: _That's all fine and good, but what do _you _think of me?_

He cleared this throat. "I think it's time."

That piqued her curiosity. "Hn?"

"How would you like to have your own summoning contract? The cat summons are still pissed off at me and won't let me near them— they've been waiting to sign a contract with another Uchiha for the past twenty plus years."

A little unsteady on her feet, Yuki, cautiously lowered herself back down to the ground. "So you think I'm responsible enough for a summon?"

Sasuke nodded. "We'll start training tomorrow afternoon."

Yuki grinned.

Sasuke continued, "But we should probably head home now. It's late, and—"

"Let's just spar one more time before we go. Please, otousan?"

_Kami. I'm exhausted. She's going to kick my ass again and chalk it up to me going easy on her. Or to me being ancient and feeble. Gah._

"Ok... But don't go too hard on me Yuki-chan?" Sasuke just couldn't say no to his eldest daughter, who chortled at his pathetic plea for mercy.

"What did I say about using the 'c' word after my name?"

Sasuke sighed, fishing a kunai out of his pocket. "Gomen, Yuki-_san_."

Yuki nodded approvingly and weaved a series of hand signs. "Fire style! Fire ball jutsu!"

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><p>an whew! Nothing better than eating organic heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market and writing fanfic on a lazy Saturday morning. Extra special thanks to my beta, **uchiha.s**, who kicked my butt editing this chapter (in the best way possible, lol)

Also, thanks for all your support- I'm really floored by the positive reception this fic has enjoyed thus far:)

In other news... I just started a live journal account; if you want to hang out there, the link is on my profile:)

I'm half way through editing chapter 5...but I'm feeling awfully lazy...lol, crack that whip otherwise known as leaving a review, and I'll see what I can't do about updating again before the weekend is out:)


	5. Chapter 5: Of Kimchi and Secrets

_a/n This chapter is dedicated to __**Tukiko Kinikia**__, who in her epic fashion, reviewed every single chapter of "Sing Like Me" and "Song Of Aether" in the space of a week! And of course, I need to thank as well as all my other dedicated, hard-core, readers and reviewers, including but not limited to:__GaaraHinataWake_ _, __tobi-is-an-artist-too__ , naash, __operagirl76__ , __dazynl8__, __maxridelover__ , __MidniteCurse4Eternity__ , __twinkletoast__ , __uchiha.s__ . Thanks so much gang! Extra special thanx to **_uchiha.s_**_ who beta'd this chapter and who also gave me a much needed pep talk:) Thaaaaaaanks!_  
><em>

_Also, sorry for the late post...I was going to post this as a double last weekend, but then this old lady was crossing the street with lots of groceries, and after I helped her carry them she invited me in for tea and cookies, but the cookies made me sleepy so I took a nap-_

_*Kakashi sensei steps in and bitch slaps author*_

_Um...sorry about that. Anyway, today's update is extra long... Enjoy the fic!_

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

**Of Kimchi and Secrets**

_"What new thing can come, under the sun_

_When everything that ever was has already been done?"_

_This she said with a gentle sigh_

_As she picked Cats-Claw, Valerian and Wild Rye._

-_Second Book of the Songs Of Akash, Verse V_

"Sasuke? Are you still sleeping? Sasuke...? Sasuke!" Sakura unceremoniously dropped a drooling toddler on his chest. She sniffed as she neared his cheek to kiss him, scrunching up her nose in disgust. "Sasuke? Why, pray tell, are the ends of your hair charred? You smell like burned toast."

Sasuke moaned. "Don't ask." He tried to pull the covers back up over his head, but Takeo was in the way.

"Oh, come _on_."

"Training accident." Sasuke's late night spar with Yuki had definitely taken its toll on him. Though he had won the second bout (ha ha!), it been at a price: his hair was singed, he was pretty sure he had a dislocated shoulder, and strangely, he had no feeling in his left big toe. Worst of all, his favorite, softest silken scarf had been burned to a crisp in the battle. _Between Takeo's teething and Yuki's temper, I'm going to have to go naked. The brats are ruining all my nice clothes._

Just as Sakura was about to leave, Sasuke continued, "Hey. Before you run off to heal strangers, I could use some help."

Sakura huffed, "I'm already late—"

"Either you can fix me now, or I can come with you to the hospital...and you can fix me there..." he explained dryly.

Sakura rolled her eyes and gathered green chakra in her hands. "Idiot, you've dislocated your shoulder— and you've broken a toe? What kind of _training_ accident did you have?"

Big Sigh. "Yuki-chan," he gruffly muttered.

Sakura let out a low whistle. "That girl is a real terror. I'm so proud."

Sasuke had a few saucy replies to that in his head (_"I think you're a bad influence on her, Sakura-chan." "Like mother, like daughter. You're both...Frightening." "Must be the maternal genetics.") _but since he had sustained enough injuries in the past twenty-four hours, he bit his tongue. Obviously, he had been in error when he had thought Yuki took after him exclusively. Any idiot with (proverbial) eyes in their head could see that her temper was pure Haruno. He hadn't met Sakura's mother, but word was that she had been twice the live wire. Sasuke shuddered at that thought, but Sakura assumed that he was merely wincing in pain.

Sukura gathered her healing chakra and got to work on her bruised husband, muttering, "I'm glad you had time to spar with Yuki. Lord knows she needs an outlet... Hey, while I'm at it, let me work on your eyes too— otherwise you'll probably have another one of those blasted tension headaches before the day is out, and I don't want you bothering me at the hospital. I have enough work as it is."

Sasuke ignored Sakura's brusque statement and practically hummed as he relished the cool, soothing feel of her chakra on his brain.

"There now, all fixed up. Have a nice day with Takeo-chan, I'll see you tonight!"

"But you haven't even had any time—"

But by the time he had gotten the words out, Sakura, her cup of dark-roast coffee, and her magenta tote bag were all gone in a pink flash through the open bedroom window.

Sasuke sighed.

"For breakfast," he finished ruefully. So typical. Kami only knew why Sakura kept herself so busy at work. These days, it seemed like the only time she spent with any members of her family was when she taught medical jutsu to Saki at the hospital; but really, that fell under the category of 'work.' Sasuke sighed again. He knew Sakura tended to drown herself in work when she was avoiding something unpleasant in her emotional life, but being socially-awkward himself, he hadn't brought the issue up with Sakura just yet. Of course, it didn't help that she was hardly ever home.

But why would Sakura be _unhappy_? The answers eluded him. After all, Sakura was living out her dream as a driven career woman, while Sasuke stayed at home and took care of all the domestic duties. If anyone had a reason to be unhappy, it might have been Sasuke; though he never would have admitted to such a thing, not even to himself. But the fact remained that Sakura had become increasingly absent from their home life. In fact, Sasuke and Sakura hadn't been romantically intimate in quite some time. Sasuke thought back to their last sexual encounter, and he realized that it must have occurred over two months ago.

Of course, they _had_ been married ten years. Their initial passion had definitely cooled over the last decade, but that was normal, wasn't it? Because who could honestly keep up with a 'fuck-a-day' regimen for a whole decade? As Takeo began rolling around on the bed and tangling himself in the covers, Sasuke shook his head. After their first two children had been born, Sasuke and Sakura's sex life had definitely declined, but they still managed to make love at _least_ once a month. Sakura had always said that sex was important to keeping their marriage cohesive, and Sasuke couldn't argue with that.

But for some reason, after Takeo was born about a year and a half ago, they had let their once-a-month rule slide. At the time, Sasuke had had his hands full managing their three children, while Sakura's work had picked up considerably at the hospital. Between developing patents for painkillers, innovating new medical jutsu, taking on additional apprentices, and advising the Hokage in her spare time, it was a wonder Sakura made it home at all. And some nights, she didn't, and instead slept slumped over her desk at the hospital when she passed out from sheer exhaustion.

Sasuke wasn't sure if he should take it all personally or not— perhaps all of his musing were nothing but misguided conjectures?— but in any event, he decided to give Sakura space. In all likelihood, she would slow down at work eventually...right?

However, Sasuke was used to other people dictating the terms of his life: at first Naruto and Sakura when he returned to Konoha, and then eventually his own children. They had shaped the boundaries of his existence like a trench, and Sasuke was all too happy to be the water flowing into a predetermined container. He had proven again and again that he was no good at making decisions; thus, it seemed wiser to allow others to do so. Thus, he was at a loss in regards to Sakura, because he was rarely the one who made the rules or established boundaries in relationships. And while she orbited farther and farther away from him, he lacked the internal gravity to pull her closer again...

But then, Sasuke and Sakura had always acted like magnets. They had gone through cycles of repulsion, followed by times of attraction. Sasuke told himself to be patient, to uphold the stoic, seamless Uchiha exterior, but it was strange to be longing for Sakura's presence when he had spent so many of his formative years shunning her. Perhaps it was his own karma conspiring against him?

Sasuke shook his head to clear his jumbled thoughts before scooping up Takeo, who at this point was busy burying himself under Sakura's pillow.

"Peeeeeeky-boooo!" he squealed as he was carried off by his father to the kitchen.

"Otousan, I'm late to school! Again! Isn't breakfast ready? Did you make my lunch?" Saki huffed indignantly.

Yuki merely rolled her eyes and poured herself a cup of tea. "Hey, otousan."

"Good morning, trolls." He broke off two bananas from a large bunch on the counter and chucked one to each of his daughters. "Here's breakfast. Have a good day."

Saki began wailing about her dismal fate in life, while Yuki silently shoved her breakfast/lunch/banana into her bag.

Sasuke's head still hurt, despite the healing chakra he had received only moments ago. He was going to seriously need a nap (a long, long, glorious nap) this morning if he was to keep his promise to help Yuki train later that afternoon. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Yuki-san? Would you mind walking with me to Naruto and Hinata's before you meet up with your team?" If he could get Hinata to watch the brat for a little while, he could catch up on his sleep. Time for a play-date.

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Go there yourself."

Sasuke artfully hid his grimace. _I would, except for the teeny tiny fact that I'm under house arrest and need an escort. Even if the escort is just you, troll_. Problematically, Sasuke and Sakura had never revealed to their children that Sasuke was, indeed, under house arrest. Truth be told, the only one who kept Sasuke under house arrest in the first place was Sasuke himself. He insisted on finishing his sentence, even if it was, at this point, mostly for show. _Time to cook up another excuse to have Yuki walk with me._

He retorted dryly, "But I enjoy your company so much. And besides, isn't Ryuu-kun on your team?" Yuki made a pained face, but Sasuke blithely continued, "You can pick him up on the way to the training grounds."

Yuki pursed her lips. "I suppose it isn't a bad idea to make sure Ryuu isn't tardy for _once_. Fine." She gave him a suspicious glance, but said nothing further.

Saki shouldered her schoolbag after shoving a bag of chips and instant ramen inside of it, calling behind her, "Later, otousan, Yuki-_chan_!"

Before Yuki could rip-her-a-new-one for using the dreaded 'c-word', Saki had already bolted out of the door. Groaning, Yuki downed the rest of her tea and picked up her bag. "Well? Coming?" Yuki intoned.

Sasuke nodded and followed his daughter out of the door; he carried Takeo-chan in his arms, who was busy gnawing on Sasuke's shoulder. _Good thing I started wearing shirts with shoulder pads... _Even if it was a fashion faux pas, it kept him from developing bruises from Takeo's terrible teething.

It was quiet on the way over to the Uzumaki residence. Yuki thoughtfully chewed on her banana while shooting Sasuke furtive, sideways glances. Finally, after about ten minutes of staring, Yuki cleared her throat and ventured, "So. Otousan. I actually need to stop off at the store really quick. You go on ahead. I'll meet you there."

Sasuke replied, oh-so-casually, "I'll come with you Yuki. I can pay for whatever it is you need."

"I'd prefer to go alone."

"I'd prefer to go with you."

"I'd _prefer_ if you didn't." Yuki began walking away.

Sasuke was getting desperate. "You're going to leave your blind father to walk alone? I could be run over by a cart...or something." _Oh gods. _That sounded weak, even to Sasuke.

Yuki paused mid stride and retorted, "I need to buy..._feminine_ items."

Sasuke blanched. "Feminine items?"

Yuki snorted and began walking away again.

"Wait! It's fine. I'll come...with you." Sasuke was beginning to sweat from the pressure; Takeo, on the other hand, was busy choking Sasuke with his scarf. Truly, raising children was hazardous to one's health.

Yuki crossed her arms over her budding chest and smirked. "Either you're agoraphobic— not likely, in my opinion— or there's another reason why you never go out in public alone. Because no normal father would accompany their daughter to buy feminine hygiene products."

_Shit! It was a ruse! _"What are you talking about? I go out by myself all the time," Sasuke replied as evenly as he could, glossing over the last part of Yuki's speech.

"Name one time. Because I can't think of any," Yuki cooly replied. Sasuke cursed to himself, _Damn the photographic Uchiha memory._

Yuki smirked again and continued, "That's what I thought. Something is up. Tell me."

Sasuke sighed and took his progeny's elbow, forcing her to walk along with him. "Fine. But seeing as you're already late for your mission, I'll tell you this afternoon when we train. Ok?"

Yuki nodded, somewhat appeased. "Fine. But you will tell the truth, the whole truth, so help you— "

Sasuke sighed dramatically as he knocked on the Uzumaki's door. "Yuki, this is not a court of law. Regardless, I swear. I'll tell you everything later this afternoon."

It looked like Yuki was going to protest, but luckily Ryuu opened the door and saved him from further interrogation.

"Hey! Yuki-chan! You really do care!"

Yuki sent a punch in the direction of Ryuu's head, which he promptly dodged. _Concussion averted... _Sasuke thought with a grin as Yuki muttered,"I came to collect your sorry ass so you wouldn't be late. _Again_."

"Aw, Yuki-chan— "

Yuki growled and elbowed Ryuu painfully in the ribs, then dragged the boy along behind her as he gasped for air.

"Have a nice time kids!" Sasuke cheekily called after them. _I wonder if Yuki-chan has a 'thing' for Ryuu-kun..._ he thought with no small amount of mirth. Because with kids this age, it was a fine line between flirting and inflicting bodily harm...

"Bye otousan. See you this afternoon," Yuki replied humorlessly over her shoulder.

As the two retreated in the distance, Sasuke's smile disappeared. He sighed ruefully; it seemed that his children were getting to be too smart for him. At least he had until this afternoon to think of a plan. Because in his current, sleep deprived, semi-charred state, he had not the foggiest idea of how to tell Yuki the 'whole truth.' _So help me Kami indeed..._

He was taken out of his anxious thoughts when a soft voice spoke behind him.

"Sasuke-san?" Hoshiko smiled up at him shyly. "Would you like to come in?"

"Hoo-shiii-kooooo! Hooo-shiiii-koooo!" Takeo cooed from his elevated position in Sasuke's arms.

Sasuke smiled and bowed politely, "Thank you. Is mom in?"

"Uh-huh! I'll take you to her."

"That won't be necessary Hoshiko-chan, I know you're already late for school."

Hoshiko blushed and picked up her school bag. "Ok, well, have a nice time I guess!" As the girl exited, Sasuke entered, closed the door behind her, and took off his shoes.

"Sasuke-kun? Is that you?" Hinata chimed from the main room.

"Uncle Sasuke's here? Yaaaaaay, Uncle Sasuke's come to pwaaay!" sang Sora, Naruto and Hinata's white-eyed, blonde-haired, three-year-old.

"So-wa! So-wa! Pway! Pway!" Takeo chorused back. Sasuke grinned and put the toddler down, who promptly began crawling towards his friend.

"Let me guess, you need me to watch your little pumpkin while you take a nap on the couch." It was not a question but a knowing statement. Hinata winked at him, knowing that he could sense her playful expression even without sight.

Sasuke bowed formally. "I've come to request a nap, Hinata-sama. You are correct. I am in desperate need of sleep."

Hinata giggled at that. "Takeo is no trouble at all." She looked over towards Sora and Takeo, and smiled: the two had gotten out Sora's dress-up clothes, and the young girl was clothing Takeo in a pink dress, fairy wings, and a hot pink feather boa, which made the latter sneeze very cutely when the feathers tickled his nose."Well, you know the way to the sofa. When should I wake you up?"

"Hmm..." Sasuke made a few calculations in his head. "Noon. I also need to ask your advice about something..."

"Are you sure you don't want to ask now?" Hinata inquired.

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm too much of a zombie to be able to comprehend life right now..."

Hinata laughed, the sound ringing like a cheerful wind-chime in the breeze, as Sasuke dragged himself into the parlor and promptly passed out on the couch.

When he finally woke, the afternoon sun was shining on his eyes most painfully, and a terrible _smell_ assaulted his nose. It was as if someone had left garbage out to rot in the sun for a week. Wrinkling his nose, Sasuke rose very, very slowly and went to find out what time it was. As he sauntered over to the kitchen, he heard a chorus of very strange noises.

"Mush, mush, mush!" Hinata cheered in a sing-song voice.

"Mushy, mushy, gushy!" Sora repeated.

"Moo, moo, moo!" sang Takeo.

_What in the world are they doing?_ Sasuke wondered, bemused. As he entered the kitchen, his delicate senses were assaulted even more violently by the stench. He pinched his nose and asked, in a nasal voice, "Hinata-chan? What are the kids making?" He was using his sensory technique, but all he could sense was that everyone was _smooshing _something in a big wooden bowl.

"Ah! It's kimchi making day today, and the kids are helping!" Hinata called cheerfully.

"Mushy, mushy, gushy!" called Sora.

"Moo-sey, moo-sey, goo-sey!" Takeo repeated.

_Ah. So that delightful smell is partially fermented cabbage, radish, carrots, ginger, and garlic. __**Definitely **__a lot of garlic._ Sasuke kept this revelation to himself and instead politely stated, "Ah."

"Da da hwelp! Da da hwelp!" Takeo asked.

Sasuke blanched. Da-da decidedly did _not_ want to help. "Um...What time is it, Hinata-chan?"

Stifling a giggle, Hinata checked the clock. "Oh my goodness, I'm sorry! It's 2 pm."

Sasuke resisted the urge to smack himself. He only had one hour left until he had to meet his impending doom, otherwise known as Yuki the Interrogator. He sighed.

"Hinata-chan, do you think I could ask your advice about that certain something now?"

Hinata nodded as she began to transfer the putrid vegetables into the crock. "Of course. What's up?"

Sasuke sighed again; indeed, he seemed to be doing a lot of sighing these days. "It's Yuki. As you know, she is quite the perceptive one, and...she's on to the fact that I can't leave the house by myself."

Now it was Hinata's turn to sigh. "Oh Sasuke-kun, you should just take yourself off house arrest already... Don't you think you've suffered enough?"

Sasuke shook his head and softly replied, "Hinata-chan, please. I appreciate your concern... However, I only have four more years until I've served my sentence, and I intend to finish it. It is my duty."

"Forgive me." Hinata grimaced. This was an old topic of conversation, and she was not one to seek out confrontational topics. "So...you still haven't told the girls anything?"

Sasuke toed the floor, kicking an errant piece of carrot which proceeded to roll across the kitchen floor until it lodged itself in the grate of the heating vent. "Um... It's not that I've been avoiding it...it's just...well..."

"You've been avoiding it." Hinata nodded sagaciously, and set the full crock of kimchi on the counter. "Sora, can you be a big girl and help Takeo-chan wash his hands in the kid's bathroom?"

Sora puffed out her chest in pride. "Uh-huh, okaasan! Come on Takeo, washy washy time!"

"Wah-shee, wah-shee Sowa!"

Hinata smiled and placed a large rock over the lid of the crock before washing her own hands in the kitchen sink. After a moment of thoughtful silence, she finally spoke. "Just tell her the truth."

"Which...part of the truth?"

Hinata paused midway between sudsing up her hands to look straight at Sasuke. "All of it."

"She's only a child... "

"She's an adult now. And if you don't tell her, someone else is going to. And if that happens... it won't be pleasant." Hinata shook her head as she found a dry towel.

Sasuke sighed. "I'm such an idiot."

"Hmmm. Yes. But you're also a kind father. It will all work out for the best." Hinata wiped her hands dry and put a reassuring hand on Sasuke's shoulder. She was about to say more, but there was a loud knock at the door.

"Sorry Sasuke. Let me go get that." She looked at him sympathetically, than called out, "Hold on, coming!"

Sasuke shook his head, then used his senses to see who was at the door.

Was that a herd of canines outside that he was hearing?

Or was it a riot led by a pack of rabid wolves?

* * *

><p>Hinata's fabulous kimchi recipe<p>

ingredients: 1 large head of napa cabbage, 1 large carrot cut into thin wheels, 1 daikon radish cut into thin wheels, 2 cloves of garlic minced or mashed, 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, 1 tsp red pepper flakes, 1-2 probiotic capsules (optional), 1 TBS sea salt

Directions: Shred cabbage and mix throughly with salt and probiotic capsules. Add in vegetables and spices, mix well. Put into crock and weigh down with a rock

Alternative directions for when using mason jars instead of crocks: Shred cabbage and mix throughly with salt and probiotic capsules, mushing and mushing with hands until the cabbage is somewhat translucent and begins to water at the bottom of the bowl. Mix in vegetables and spices and place in mason jar, smooshing down firmly with your fist. Cap tightly with lid. Every morning for the next 3-7 days taste kimchi and smoosh down firmly with fist. It is done when it tastes sour and delicious! YUM!

* * *

><p>an _Dear Gods I love kimchi. Well, I'll do my best to update in a week or so..._

_BTW, if you see any mistakes, please let me know and I will fix them! Any comments, critiques, or questions would be much appreciated via your lovely review:)_


	6. Chapter 6: Cats and Dogs

a/n Hello dears! I can't thank everyone enough for your kind encouragement, reviews, etc- thanks! As always, feel free to poke me with questions, concerns, or comments; and if you see any errors, I will fix them! Lord knows, I read over each chapter about 3 times before I publish, and I even read it out loud once more for good measure, but I am human and therefore I err. **It's readers like YOU that can make me a better writer with your comments:)**

Anyway, sorry for the wait, I meant to publish last weekend, but I didn't manage to get the rough draft to my beta on time! Eeep, I think I was having too much fun with life...and starting a new Yoga class (yippee!). Speaking of beta's, thanks very much to my pal **dazynl8** for reading this chapter over, even when she had a manga obsession to feed:) Much love!

I hope you enjoy:)

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

**Cats and Dogs**

_Said I, "Though the sun's movements do often repeat_

_And the stars rise, whirl, move apart and meet_

_Though my dreams are dark and full of fear_

_And my feet drag heavily as we finish each year..."_

The Second Book of Akash, verse VI

"Yo, Hinata-chan, your house stinks!"

Hinata rolled her eyes. "Why thank you Kiba-kun." Despite her jovial tone, she was blushing profusely; it seemed that her old habits died hard.

"It's kimchi making day," Sasuke stated bluntly with a sigh. It seemed he always wound up at Hinata's house on kimchi day, much to his displeasure. Such were the dangers of having friends who liked to conscript your children to ferment vegetables. Sasuke shook his head and continued, "Kiba, what's with the tribe of mutts?"

Now it was Kiba's turn to roll his eyes. "Akamaru's bitch just had her second litter—"  
>"Kiba! Language!" Hinata admonished, her blush reaching new heights of red. "The children are in the house!"<p>

"No, nonono, that's just what females are called—"

"KIBA! SHAME!" Hinata cried, utterly appalled.

Sasuke, at this point, was laughing quietly, which for him, was the equivalent of a normal person 'busting a gut.'

Kiba stuttered, "No! I-I just b-brought over Akamaru's puppies! For Sora to see! 'Cause I promised her! Oh-oh Kami!"

Hinata chortled, finally piecing together what Kiba was trying to communicate. "Oh, oh, I see! Sorry Kiba-kun!" She laughed at that and slapped her forehead. Finally, after much hysterical laughing, she regained control of herself and ventured, "Well...we better bring the pups into the yard. I don't want them peeing all over my house after all."

Kiba loudly replied, "Nani? These are _nin_ dogs. They won't pee on the rugs! I promise!"

"Um...but just to be sure? Ok, Kiba-kun?" She smiled sweetly. Kiba nodded sheepishly and, with Akamaru's help, herded the adorable pups into the yard.

"Sora-chan! Takeo-chan! The puppies are here!" Hinata called.

"PUPPIES! Yay!"

"Puppwees! Yay!"

A few moments later, Takeo and Sora were lost in a pile of adorable, furry, yelping creatures. "Eeee! It's licking me mommy!"

"I wish I could see this. It's probably the most adorable thing in the world," Sasuke ruefully mused.

"Well, I'll take a picture for Sakura-chan at the very least," Hinata replied apologetically as she snapped a photo.

"Mommy, can I have a puppy? They're so wittle and cute!" Sora called.

Hinata smiled. "No honey, those are special puppies. They're only for the Inuzuka family."

Sora pouted and thought for a moment before countering, "Mommy, can I be an Inuzuka?"

Kiba laughed heartily at that. "See Hinata-chan, you should have married me instead of old blondey boy!"

Hinata blushed at that but managed to get out, "Um...K-Kiba-kun? That wouldn't have worked out...um..."

Sasuke snorted and finished her sentence, "'Cause you're kind of gay." Hinata grinned at the Uchiha's habit of completing her thoughts when she herself was too flustered. Sasuke certainly didn't mince words; she had always admired him for his direct, efficient, and forceful approach, an affect which she tried to emulate.

"Hey, I could be straight for Hinata-chan!"

"Lee-san would kill you if he could hear you talking like that." Sasuke snorted, amused.

Hinata rolled her eyes and blushed an even deeper shade of red. "Kiba-k-kun, quit f-flirting. I'm a-a m-married l-lady!"

"Sorry Hinata!" Kiba smirked, then barked with laughter.

Sasuke grinned at their habitual banter. "Kiba-san, what time is it?"

"Hm, nearly three."

The Uchiha sighed. "Hinata-chan? Could I trouble you to watch after my brat for a few more hours? I've got a date to train Yuki. I swear, I'll make it up to you, I can take both of the kids tomorrow—"

Hinata waved her hand, "No need Sasuke-kun. It's always a pleasure to have you and/or Takeo over. You can pay me back by telling Yuki the you-know-what."

Kiba raised an eyebrow but refrained from asking what the 'you-know-what' was. Sasuke inwardly groaned. _The truth, eh? I don't know if the t__ruth is an Uchiha forte... _Instead of muttering his sardonic thoughts, he replied, "Certainly, Hinata-chan. Thank you. Um...Kiba-san, do you reckon you could spare a clone to walk me to the academy?"

Kiba rolled his eyes. "This again?" he muttered to Hinata. Hinata merely shrugged her shoulders in response. Kiba sighed; while he wouldn't consider himself one of Sasuke's close friends, he often spent time with the man simply by virtue of Sasuke's proximity to Hinata. And of course, Kiba and Hinata were as close as ex-teammates could be. 'Uncle Kiba' often stopped by the Uzumaki household to spoil his nieces and nephews, while concurrently, the Uzumaki household was like a second home to Sasuke and his wayward children.

It seemed to Kiba that as the number of Sasuke's children increased, so did the Uchiha's visits to Hinata. Kiba couldn't blame the poor fellow; the former rogue ninja was now forced to raise a veritable gaggle of children while his wife worked 70-90 hours a week. Add in the Uchiha's innumerable childhood traumas to the mix, and it was clear that Sasuke definitely didn't have it easy. In contrast to Hinata, to whom motherhood came as naturally as breathing, next to her, Sasuke looked more like a fish trying to breath out of water. Kiba had watched as soft-spoken, tender-hearted Hinata had taken Sasuke under her wing and showed him the basics of parenthood.

When Sasuke had first returned to the village, Kiba didn't trust the Uchiha at all. The Inuzuka were fiercely loyal, and instinctively hated those who turned their backs on their own kind. But Kiba's hostile attitude eventually cracked as he watched Sasuke transform from a maladroit human being into a decent parent:

"_Oi, Hinata-chan! I'm here to pay my respects to my new nephew!" Kiba barked, knocking on the front door with excitement. The March winds whipped at his jacket, and Kiba had to repress a shiver as he waited on the Uzumaki's doorstep._

_A moment later Sasuke answered the door, a squalling, month old infant held maladaptively in his arms. "Hn."_

_Kiba eyed the Uchiha askance. "What are __**you**__ doing here?"_

"_Kiba-kun, Uchiha-san is my honored guest. He's helping me today," Hinata replied reproachfully as she came up behind Sasuke. In her arms a tiny, wrinkled newborn mewed quietly as Hinata led her guests to the living room._

_Kiba quickly forgot his ire at seeing the Uchiha traitor in Hinata's home upon viewing Ryuu-kun. __"Oh Hinata, he's just...so...little!" Kiba cooed, holding out his pinky-finger to the baby, who grabbed it and squeezed his tiny fingers around the offered appendage. "May I hold him, Hinata-chan?"_

_Hinata beamed. "Of course. Take him gently now...there you go, support the head, just like that. Oh look how happy he is!"_

_As Kiba gingerly held the newborn babe, completely entranced by its cuteness, Hinata glided over to Sasuke who continued to have a hard time with his one-month-old child: the Uchiha's forehead was beaded with sweat, and he was gnashing his teeth as Yuki continued to make pathetic squealing noises, like a pig whose tail had just been caught on a wire fence. Hinata winced._

_Kiba watched warily as Hinata placed a soothing hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "May I, Uchiha-san?" Hinata summarily took the baby, and in a matter of seconds, the infant had quieted. She handed Yuki back to Sasuke with a smile._

"_Hinata-sama...how did you...do that?" Sasuke asked, amazed, as if Hinata possessed some type of sorcery that had power over crying babies._

_Hinata rubbed his shoulder sympathetically. "Don't worry, Uchiha-san. It just takes practice. I was surrounded by babies growing up, and I sought out opportunities to play with infants when I should have been practicing my jutsu!" Hinata laughed warmly at this before resuming, "If you continue to help me with Ryuu-kun, I have no doubt that you'll develop your own magic touch with Yuki-chan. You're doing great already! You just need more practice." Kiba lifted an eyebrow; it appeared that in reality, Hinata was helping Sasuke, and not the other way around..._

_Sasuke sighed, and it seemed to Kiba that the Uchiha's almost tangible depression lifted a bit. Sasuke stroked the side of his daughter's face as she cooed and grabbed one of his fingers. Hinata continued, her voice soft, "I can already tell that she loves you very much."_

_The Uchiha chuckled as Yuki took Sasuke's finger and put it in her mouth. "Thanks, Hinata-sama. I needed that."_

_Kiba looked up from the adorable infant in his own arms and gazed at Sasuke, as if for the first time; Kiba didn't see a murderer, a traitor, or an enemy. He just saw a lonely, reserved, and desperate man trying to learn how to be a nurturer when all he had ever known was violence and vengeance.__ Maybe, just maybe, the Uchiha wasn't a lost cause. Kiba looked between Hinata and Sasuke, the latter gently smiling at his infant daughter, and Kiba could feel himself softening towards the Uchiha._

_And after all, Kiba was Hinata's loyal friend; if Sasuke happened to be her friend as well, as was obvious from the interaction he was witnessing, then maybe Kiba should give him a chance. "Oi, Uchiha-san, you make a good mother!" Kiba called out jokingly._

_Hinata laughed heartily at that; Sasuke's mouth seemed to be at war with itself, unsure of whether it wanted to frown or smile, but in the end, the sides of his mouth twitched up in a grin. "Um...thanks... I guess. Dog breath."_

"_Oi!"_

_Hinata actually chortled, and even Kiba grinned, despite himself._

Kiba shook his head at the old memory. Well, Kiba's instincts had been right, Sasuke had turned out to be an ok guy. Sure, he was somewhat depressing, socially retarded, and a little bit of a killjoy. But what really inspired Kiba's trust was the fact that for Sasuke, his children were the most important thing in the world. In fact, Kiba had even gone so far as to argue with Sasuke to absolve himself of his house arrest, reasoning that ultimately, it would be better for the Uchiha children. Unfortunately, Sasuke had yet to agree with him.

The Inuzuka sighed; he knew better than to rag Sasuke about his self-imposed sentence, so instead he formed a simple clone as the Uchiha had requested. As Sasuke snuck out stealthily so that Takeo was oblivious to his disappearance, he was closely followed by Kiba's double. The real Kiba whispered to his old teammate with no small amount of mirth, "That Uchiha sure is a weird one."

Hinata grinned. "Yeah. But he has cute puppies, doesn't he?" She gestured over at Takeo, whose face was currently being licked by two young dogs. He was laughing hysterically. Kiba guffawed at that.

* * *

><p>"Hinata-chan, what a surprise!" Naruto chimed as he stood and gathered up Hinata's hands and kissed them. "Yum, you smell great!"<p>

Hinata blushed, but before she could respond, Kiba shoved his way into the Hokage's office, a tribe of puppies and two young children in tow. "What! Naruto, she smells like kimchi!" Kiba wrinkled his nose at that, while Hinata's blush deepened to a brilliant crimson.

"K-K-Kiba-k-k-kun!"

"Oi, Kiba, I like kimchi. And I _loooooove_ Hinata-chan!" He grinned and kissed her on the cheek; the loud, wet smacking sound made Hinata's blush turn a 'I can't believe you did that in front of Kiba I am soooo embarrassed, ack!' hue.

Kiba merely rolled his eyes; one would think that, after ten years of marriage, Hinata and Naruto would stop being so..._cutesy._ It was just nauseating in Kiba's opinion, those two acted like they were still dating the way they doted on each other. Of course, inwardly, Kiba approved of their relationship, and he knew the effusive displays of affection were just what these two needed; after all, both had been somewhat starved for attention growing up. But seriously, could they just get a _room_ for once, instead of having at least a million public displays of affection a day?

Kiba smiled at his thoughts and shook his head, while Sora ran up to her dad and hugged his leg. "Hi otousan!"

"Hey muffin! Looks like you brought all your friends!"

"Uh-huh! Takeo is here too!" At this, Takeo waved cherubically at the grown-ups from the center of a pile of pups.

Naruto scooped Sora up and perched her on his shoulders as he turned to face Hinata again. "So, what brings me the pleasure of such a nice visit?"

"Um...Naruto-kun...um...well..." Hinata tapped her index fingers together anxiously.

Kiba sighed, exasperated. "She told Sasuke to tell the truth to Yuki. _All _of it."

Naruto blanched. "You mean...the truth? About the Teme?"

Hinata nodded. "Yeah...the complete truth about Sasuke-san... We all knew he had to tell her eventually...but..."

"Wait! What? The truth! You mean, like, all-all-ALL of it?"

Hinata nodded.

One of the puppies began peeing on the rug.

Sora squealed in delight at this and began giggling from her high perch atop her father's shoulders.

"Hey! Bad dog! Bad, **bad** dog!" Kiba roared, which the puppy promptly ignored as he continued to urinate.

Hinata sighed and keep her attention on the task at hand. "Well, see, Yuki is getting old enough where we can't keep things from her anymore...she's starting to catch on...so I told Sasuke-san to tell her everything. But then...I started thinking...and I talked to Kiba-kun and...well...Sasuke-san has done some pretty terrible things...so maybe...everything...?"

"I see..." Naruto stroked his non-existent beard in thought, and it was then that he noticed the commotion in the corner of his office. "Yo! Kiba! One of your dogs just peed on my favorite throw rug!"

Hinata smacked her forehead. _He just noticed now?_

Naruto grimaced and deposited a now hysterically laughing Sora on the floor.

Kiba raised an eyebrow. "Dude... _you_ have a favorite _throw rug_?"

"KIBA! My rug has just been SOILED!"

"Sorry! Sorry! Come on, Akamaru, help me herd everyone out of here!"

Akamaru yelped in the affirmative, and soon Akamaru, the puppies, the children, and Kiba exited the Hokage's office, in that order. Hinata sighed softly as the door closed behind them.

Naruto shook his head and began, "So...what were we just talking about?"

Hinata resisted the urge to smack herself again. "Sasuke. Yuki. The truth?"

"Ah yes...the truth. Maybe...maybe we should be there for when he explains everything to Yuki-chan...you know, because EVERYTHING, well, that's a lot. Of things. Hum." Naruto's brow was furrowed in thought, and Hinata giggled despite herself.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Naruto and Hinata both chimed in stereo.

* * *

><p>"Yuki-san, how was your day of training?" Sasuke asked politely.<p>

Yuki practically growled in response.

"I'm glad you had a nice time," Sasuke deadpanned. "Are you ready to get your own summons?"

The petulant preteen brightened at that. "Yes please, otousan!"

Sasuke nodded. "Good." He began walking and Yuki trailed behind him.

"Where are we going, otousan?"

"To the Hokage tower. I need to ask permission to take you out of the village."

Yuki raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Where are we going?"

Sasuke grinned. "Well if I told you now, where would be the fun in that?" Yuki groaned, but Sasuke cheerfully continued, "Now Yuki, having a summons is a huge responsibility. Your summons are like your comrades— they guard your back just as much as you guard theirs. Understand?"

Yuki sighed. "As long as their IQ exceeds that of Uzumaki, 'I have the intelligence of a banana slug' Ryuu, then I don't foresee it being a problem."

"You can't see it Yuki, but I'm rolling my eyes at you."

"Tch."

Sasuke cleared his throat and continued, "Seriously, care for your summons like you would care for your dearest friend. I also wanted to tell you that the feline Uchiha summons are some of the most powerful and intelligent summon animals there are. It is a huge honor and responsibility to sign a contract with them."

Yuki nodded thoughtfully as they climbed the stairs to the Hokage tower. "I see..."

They were silent the rest of the way to Naruto's office. Sasuke could tell that Yuki was pleased, though he knew this fact more by his fatherly intuition than by his sensory skills. Sasuke rapt loudly on the large wooden doors.

"Come in!" a pair of voices called.

Sasuke slowly opened the door and entered, Yuki following close behind. Sasuke then proceeded to wrinkle his nose. "Something smells...interesting in here..." he began. _What's with the Uzumaki family smelling like funk? _

Naruto made a face. "One of Kiba's darn pups thought my carpet needed watering."

"Ah." The Uchiha nodded as he made his way into the office. "That would explain the...er...aroma..."

Naruto looked over at Hinata and began, hurriedly, "Now just listen Sasuke, as your Hokage I've decided that...how to put this delicately...well, everything is quite a lot of things you see...so Hinata and I were discussing that probably you could pick one or two or even three things, and that would be plenty of things! No need to say _everything, _after all, there are so many things, and no one needs to hear _all _those things, right Hinata-chan?"

Hinata smiled nervously.

"Naruto?" Sasuke asked, very confused.

Yuki, who hitherto had been silently standing next to her father, murmured in a composed fashion, "Hokage-sama, are talking about informing me on sexual education? I assure you, I received ample information during my 'Family Life Education' classes at the academy."

The other three adults in the room blanched.

"Um...Yuki-san...um..." Hinata mumbled.

"Wha...what?" Naruto asked incredulously.

"Naruto, what in the world are you trying to say?" Sasuke demanded, throughly confused.

"Well Hinata told me you were going to tell Yuki everything—" Naruto began, about to further complicate things, but Hinata stalled him with a raised finger.

She cleared her throat and began, "As per our discussion previously Sasuke-san, we hope that you will exercise discretion and sensitivity as to how you will inform your daughter on the history of the...village, for the benefit of all parties involved." And by village, she meant the Uchiha, knowing that Sasuke would catch her drift.

Naruto scratched his head, obviously _not_ comprehending exactly what Hinata had just said.

Yuki nodded, finally understanding the subject of the discussion, and replied, "Although I _am_ expecting a detailed explanation. I've looked up my family history quite extensively, but was unable to proceed with my research; many of the volumes I requested at the library are _unfortunately_ on the restricted list." During the last part of her speech, she eyed Sasuke suspiciously.

Sasuke sighed. "Which is why I've agreed to tell you everything anyway. Since I know the only thing that is stopping you from breaking into the library is respect for your elders." It was a dry joke that only Yuki fully understood, her pained smile clearly displayed on her face. _The troll probably tr__ied to break into the library already, knowing Yuki. Unfortunately for her, I used a sealing technique over the documents pertaining to the Uchiha; she would need another five years of training or a highly developed sharingan to crack that barrier. Ha._

Naruto shook his head and continued, "I wanted to ask you Sasuke-kun, do you want Hinata and me to be there when you...you know...let the cat out of the bag?"

Sasuke shook his head no. "Thanks but no thanks." Sasuke mentally congratulated Naruto for making the situation far more awkward than it already was. He cleared his throat and continued, "Actually, speaking of cats, I honestly came here to ask your permission to leave the village. We need to see Nekobaa**.**"

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><p><em>an Who is Nekobaa? Will Sasuke really tell Yuki everything? Lol, tune in next time for the answers to this and more! *wink* I do have the next chapter with the beta notes, it's just a matter of making the final draft; I'm hoping I can publish again by the weekend...I'll really, really try! Especially because everyone has been so encouraging!  
><em>

**_Your comments help me to become a better writer- a cyber penny for your review:)_** Thanks so much!


	7. Chapter 7: Journey

A/n as promised, your update!

Please note: I will no longer be able to update this fic twice a week, unfortunately! I just have a lot going on right now, and updating twice a week takes too much out of me. **But I will try my best to maintain a once a week update schedule**; you can most likely expect one update at some point on the weekends. Please check my profile for the latest updates on my schedule. Thanks for understanding!

Thanks so much everyone for your warm reviews and kind support; I've worked extremely hard on this fic, and I'm so glad you are all enjoying it.

Extra special thanks to **dazynl8** for her rock-star beta work, as well as to **uchiha.s** for her pep talks and for helping me to organize my thoughts. Thanks so much you two for making me a better writer! Much, much love!

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><p>Chapter 7<p>

**Journey**

_Though death surrounds us like a veil,_

_Like the sound of the wolf's moon lit wail,_

_As you saved my body from blood, boiling like a fountain,_

_I'd bear it all over again to be with the lady of the mountain."_

The Second Book of Akash, Verse VII

"Nekobaa, Nekobaa...that sounds so familiar..." Naruto mused.

"She was one of our clients back when we were genin...we had to collect a certain paw print for a certain, somewhat embarrassing, paw encyclopedia..." Sasuke grinned wryly at the memory.

"Oh, that's right, the old Granny Cat! Oh man, those were good times...say, what do you need to see her for?"

"I entrusted her with the summoning contract scrolls for the Uchiha clan when I was...traveling," Sasuke stated diplomatically. And by traveling, he meant when he had been working with team Taka.

"So?" Naruto asked, still clueless.

"So I need the scroll," Sasuke stated evenly, schooling his face to remain stoic. However, his daughter was observing him out of the corner of her eye, and Yuki _swore_ she detected a nervous twitch in her father's forehead.

"Oh. I thought you already had a summon—"  
>"It's for Yuki," Sasuke muttered, stifling the urge to pummel the Hokage.<p>

"Ooooooooh! Right. Gotchya, gotchya." Naruto nodded wisely, as if he had known all along exactly what Sasuke had been talking about. Suddenly, Naruto smiled his wide, face-splitting, shit-eating grin as he continued in an overexcited tone, "Hey...can I come too? Oh man, that would be so cool!"

Sasuke took a deep breath before replying, "Don't you have... I don't know... _things_ to do? You are the _Hokage_, after all."

"Aw, come on Sasuke-kuuuuun, I want to say hello to Nekobaa and Tamaki and those cute little ninja cats! It'll be so much fun!" Naruto whined. Sensing that he was getting nowhere with the Uchiha, the blond turned to Sasuke's silently amused daughter and ventured, "What do you say, Yuki-san, can I come with you? Please?"

Yuki smiled and bowed politely. "Of course, Hokage-sama."

Sasuke sighed. _My own daughter is a traitor._ Instead, he merely responded, "Hn."

Naruto began bouncing up and down. "Hey, we should go to the hospital and get Sakura to join us— it would be so much fun to have all of team seven together for this momentous mission! This is going to be awesome!"

Hinata smiled inwardly as Naruto used the word 'momentous'; she had caught Naruto studying the dictionary just last night, looking under 'M' for, as he put it, 'Hokage worthy words.' She was awfully proud of Naruto's improving vocabulary. Shaking herself out of her reverie, Hinata murmured, "I'll watch over the kids while you're gone; when you see Saki and Hoshiko, send them over to our house; I'll order a pizza and rent a movie. But first... I wonder where Sora and Takeo have run off to... Well, I'd better go track down uncle Kiba, have fun you three!" Hinata smiled and jogged out of the Hokage's office, looking for her wayward charges.

Naruto grinned over at Yuki and Sasuke. "Well, we'd better go collect Sakura-chan! Hold on tight!" he shouted as he grabbed their hands.

"Wait Naruto, we can walk—" Sasuke tried to protest, but unfortunately, they were already caught up in the nausea inducing motions of the hiraishin.

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><p>Sakura looked on as Saki and Hoshiko worked on healing rabbits with broken legs. It had been a few months now since the girls had begun doing extra curricular work with Sakura in the hospital, and Sakura was quite impressed. Although of course, Saki, as her daughter, was bound to be a natural. But Hoshiko-chan was also quite good, and of that, Sakura was glad. Hoshiko was a quiet, soft-spoken girl, and Sakura believed that she was better suited to the medical profession, rather than being a full-fledged combat kunoichi.<p>

"Hey, Hoshiko-chan! Your rabbit seems to be doing much better!" Saki chirped. "How'd you do that?"

Hoshiko smiled shyly and blushed at the praise. "Thanks Saki-chan. Um...I was thinking about Sakura-sensei's advice on visualization...I thought about how I wanted the bone to straighten out, and I could kind of picture it...in my mind..." Hoshiko replied haltingly.

"Nice." Saki nodded vigorously before applying the method herself, with positive results: the broken leg on her rabbit started to straighten out as well.

"Hey, Saki-chan, you totally did it!" Hoshiko beamed.

Saki grinned and nodded heartily once again, obviously thrilled with her work.

Sakura smiled. She doubted that either of the girls would have done as well on their own as they were doing together. It was so different from Sakura's confrontational and competitive relationship with Ino; Saki and Hoshiko greatly encouraged each other to succeed. It seemed the latter method was much more conducive to learning, as Sakura was finding out. She had no doubt that the two friends would master medical jutsu by the time they hit ten, surpassing their sensei even at such young ages.

"Ok girls, now I want you to concentrate your chakra in your hands. Good, Saki, Hoshiko. Very good. Now take that chakra—"

Suddenly, there was a loud thumping sound behind her. Sakura turned towards the cause of the noise and sighed in exasperation. "Why are you three here? I'm in the middle of a lesson." She placed her hands on her hips and glared, while noticing that Yuki and Sasuke had both fallen to their knees, ostensibly in response the unpleasant, 'I'm going to puke my guts out now and never eat again' jutsu that had transported them here at a most inconvenient time.

"Oi, Sakura-chan, we're going to visit Granny Cat, you totally have to come!" Naruto apparently had not been affected in the slightest by the hiraishin, as he was practically jumping in excitement.

"Granny Cat?" both Saki and Hoshiko asked curiously.

"Why are we visiting Nekobaa? Don't we have more important things—"

Sasuke cut off Sakura's train of thought, "I'm going to get the Uchiha summoning contract for Yuki, and Naruto insisted we make it a team seven thing. Hn." Sasuke rose from the floor slowly while clutching his stomach.

"Aw, cool! Can I have a summons too dad?" Saki asked, ecstatic.

"Not until you graduate from the academy, Saki-chan," Sasuke replied wearily.

"Awwwwwwww—"

Hoshiko broke into Saki's wail, "Can I come meet the Granny cat too, otousan?"

Naruto grinned and patted the girl on the head. "I'm afraid I don't have enough juice to hiraishin that many people over to Nekobaa's house, Hoshiko-chan." Her face fell, which pulled at Naruto's heartstrings, so he added, "But I'll bring you back a present, ok, Hoshiko-chan?" Somewhat mollified, Hoshiko smiled. Naruto grinned and continued, "Ok, Saki, Hoshiko, you two girls head over to my place. Hinata's ordering a pizza for everyone, you girls are going to have movie night, ok?"

"Can Saki sleep over again otousan?"

"Of course she can, sweetie!" Hoshiko smiled, and, all too happy to get out of a lesson early in favor of pizza, pulled her compatriot out of the door before the adults could change their minds.

Sakura sighed through her smile. "Well, looks like I'm going then."

"Naruto, how are we going to hiraishin all the way there? I don't believe you've stashed a kunai over at an _Uchiha_ warehouse..." Sasuke began suspiciously.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "It's located by the border— near Ame and the Sand's border to be more precise. I've got a kunai stashed nearby. We'll have to walk a little ways, but no matter! Hold hands everyone!"

"Just— do it gently this time, please, Hokage-sama?" Yuki requested, still a little green from her last hiraishin adventure.

Naruto grinned his face-splitting smile. "Yes, of course! One, two, thr—"

Everything disintegrated into a horrible swirl of gold. Once reality rematerialized, three ninja were holding their poor, aching stomachs while one Hokage loudly shouted, "Yosh!"

"Ugh!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuh."

"Ouch."

"Naruto-kun, where are we?" Sakura managed between clenched teeth.

"Why, the only ramen stand near the border of course!" Naruto replied cheerfully.

"Why, oh why, am I not surprised," Sasuke stated dryly as he held his rebellious stomach with one hand and his aching head in the other.

"Hey, a Hokage's got to eat..."

Sakura mused, "I'll bet you have a three-pronged kunai stashed at every ramen joint from here to the ends of the earth..."

Naruto sighed dreamily. "I'm working on it, believe you me, but I'm not there yet!" He grinned while his two former teammates slapped their faces in stereo. Yuki's mouth twitched upwards, which was the young Uchiha's approximation of a grin: it was wicked fun watching the Hokage drive her parental units crazy. Naruto winked and continued, "Do you think we have time to stop for ramen—"

"NO!" chorused Sasuke and Sakura.

Yuki put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter.

Naruto sighed. "Fine. Let's go, the warehouse is about five miles south of here. You Uchiha can buy me ramen _after_ we complete our mission."

"Fine." Sasuke smirked and began leading the way.

"YOSH!" The blond fisted the air in victory.

Sasuke grinned despite himself and walked alongside his wife. "Sakura-chan?"

"Mmmm?"

"Headache."

"Aw, poor baby," Sakura intoned mockingly. "Here, don't say I never did anything for you." Sasuke sighed appreciatively as Sakura's cool healing energy soothed the horrible tension headache right behind his eyes. Sakura, giving her husband chakra as they walked, asked quietly, "Stressed out? Or motion sick from the hiraishin?"

Sasuke muttered, "Little bit from column A, little bit from column B..."

"Well, there, how does that feel?"  
>Sasuke took Sakura's hand from his forehead and kissed it in a rare public display of affection that make Yuki wince. "Much better, thanks."<p>

Naruto shot Sakura a look that said, 'Nice work, my adorable little teammate'; Sakura just shook her head at the Hokage and continued walking in stride with Sasuke. After a moment, Sakura smiled and held her husband's hand; Sasuke, a bit startled at the gesture, obliged. Sasuke and Sakura weren't usually this touchy-feely, but Naruto's buoyant personality had the tendency to inspire sentimental moments; perhaps because when Naruto was around, cheerful memories of team seven's good old days would surface. But Sasuke was sure it was also due in some measure to the almost tangible feeling of sunshine that Naruto imparted to those around him. Sasuke gave his wife's hand a squeeze, which she returned; he gave a content, relieved sigh. _Maybe things are all right between us after all..._

The four walked in comfortable silence for some time, until Yuki turned towards her father and finally ventured, "So. All I could glean from the library were the facts I already knew: you were abducted by Orochimaru, you joined the Akatsuki after Itachi's death as a Konoha spy, and you helped bring Madara down in the last ninja war. But something is telling me that there's more to the story." She speared her father with her gaze and continued, "Because you're acting like you're on house arrest. All the facts point to it— you're not on active duty even though you are certainly one of Konoha's top ninja, you don't leave the house by yourself..." Here Yuki started enumerating by counting on her fingers as she continued, "Mom's in charge of all the money, and when we sold that piece of property last year the elders had to authorize it..." Yuki paused again and took a deep breath before continuing, "And some of the other kids in the academy call me a dirty Uchiha behind my back...I could go on."

Sasuke sighed. If looks could maim, he'd have a hole bored through his head, courtesy of his eldest daughter. "It's because I _am _on house arrest," he replied bluntly.

Yuki blanched. It was one thing to have her suspicions, but another entirely to have those inklings confirmed so abruptly.

"Baka, you're only on house arrest because you won't let me revoke the sentence," Naruto grumbled, but then continued more softly, "Yuki-chan, I didn't know the other kids were mean to you!" Naruto, of all people, knew what it was like to be teased for something that was out of one's control.

Yuki rolled her eyes. "It's Yuki-_san_, please, Hokage-sama. But that's not what I want to talk about right now. Currently, I want to know why my dad is on house arrest." She placed her hands on her hips and looked straight at Sasuke. "And why _you_ insist on staying on house arrest if the Hokage wants to pardon you."

Sasuke rubbed his temples with his hand, his tension headache rapidly returning. Where to start really? He had betrayed the Leaf by going to Orochimaru of his own free will, killed his brother, attempted to slay every single one of his former teammates, murdered innocent people whose names he did not know, attacked the Five Kage Summit, helped to instigate a war against all the shinobi nations...Sasuke was starting to sweat. He took a deep breath and stated candidly, "I wasn't a Konoha spy when I joined the Akatsuki. I had defected. But during the Ninja war, Naruto and I fought, and he convinced me that I was being an ass. So I gave up my eyesight to destroy Madara." At the mention of Madara, a cold shiver went down his spine, which he fought to ignore.

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it. Ok, sure, you joined the bad guys, which is a surprise to me, but you ended up winning the war. So why the house arrest?"

Sasuke was not going to go into the details, especially not the fact that he had murdered Choji's father, and hence Yuki's teammate's own grandfather. _I intend to tell the truth, but there's no reason to go into gory detail. _Instead, he countered honestly, "Because I don't trust myself."

As he said these words, he saw strange images in his mind's eye, a flock of crows, a thin necklace with three silver circles, and crimson, flowing like water over dark cobblestones, glinting with moonlight, and steaming in the cold night air, as if the dead were offering incense with their own life's blood. Everything had begun and ended with Itachi; Sasuke's revenge that, like fire, had only grown hotter with his brother's death, wanting to consume the world until it, too, was a charred and ashen thing, like Sasuke's black heart. Wanting to kill those whom he loved the most, in a sick parody of Itachi's handiwork: because if the only people he actually cared about were dead, then Sasuke, in a sick sense, could finally be free...

No, Sasuke had been irreparably twisted, like a tree deprived of light, growing sideways and at unnatural angels to escape the shadows. _Oh Itachi, you should have finished me that night...life is a painful and dark thing...to live, but to always be trying to escape your shadows in vain..._

Sasuke wondered if he should tell Yuki about Itachi, the linchpin of his madness; after all, Yuki did not know the details of Sasuke's final battle with Itachi, how Sasuke had killed his brother and eventually had taken his eyes. But in the end, Sasuke decided against revealing this information; it was too soon admit to fratricide to his own, innocent child; it was a can of worms whose only end led to the truth about the mangekyo sharingan, and that was _not_ a topic Sasuke was going to broach with Yuki until she was much, _much_ older...

No, let Yuki believe the history taught in the academy, the one that glossed over truths best left untold. Sasuke shook his head from side to side, slowly, noticing that an uncomfortable silence had fallen over the group.

Sasuke cleared his throat and finally ventured, "By finishing my sentence, I prove to Konoha and to myself that I have some shred of integrity. That I..." Sasuke flailed a moment, trying to find the right words. He took a deep breath and finally continued, "That I have a right to be alive."

Sakura hid her gasp behind her hand. Sasuke was such a stubborn, private bastard about his past, and she had always thought Sasuke was being obstinate and prideful by insisting on maintaining his sentence. She shook her head as faded memories flooded her consciousness...

"_Sakura, we've already __**had**__ this conversation. My decision is final: I will be serving the rest of my sentence."_ _Sasuke turned away from her and walked into the bathroom, an angry Sakura following him close behind._

"_Idiot! Have you stopped to think that maybe, just maybe, your blasted house arrest bullshit affects all of us!" Sakura gestured widely to connote their family. "It's so damned awkward, especially now that the girls are older..."_

"_Sakura?"_

"_What?"_

"_Can I...urinate in peace? Please?"_

_Sakura took a step back, somewhat embarrassed. "Oh. Yeah..."_

_Sasuke shook his head and closed the door behind him; Sakura, still mad as hell, stomped back into the __bedroom and threw herself down on the mattress. Sasuke was being __**such**__ an imbecile. It was neither practical nor comfortable to assure that Sasuke always had an escort to leave the house. Sure, Sakura supposed, it wasn't a big deal per se to make a clone... But still! It was an unnecessary waste of chakra! And it was getting to be annoying!_

_Sakura glumly thought to herself that it just didn't make sense anymore for Sasuke to be on house arrest: it was a farce at this point. She patted her full, pregnant belly and sighed. Soon, they would be having their third child... She was tired of having to keep up Sasuke's pretense of quasi-prison from their children, tired of having a husband who didn't leave the house by himself, whose interests and focus seemed to rest solely on the home, on their children. Sure, he still trained with Naruto on occasion, and he did make it to the academy once a week to teach music... But didn't he want more from life? Wasn't he __**bored**__?_

_In fact, Sakura was bored just thinking about him. Her hands, which had been idly rubbing her belly, paused. She was somewhat appalled at her thoughts, but she couldn't deny their veracity. The two didn't even go on dates anymore; Sasuke just preferred to stay at home..._

_Suddenly, Sakura felt arms circling her, and she would have jumped if Sasuke hadn't been holding her. "You startled me, Sasuke," she practically growled._

"_Sorry." He kissed the hollow of her neck. "I mean...sorry about upsetting you..."_

_Sakura sighed. She had trouble staying angry at Sasuke for long, and she decided that she would just forget about the whole thing. "Don't worry about it," she murmured._

_He released her and stretched his arms up over his head. "It doesn't really matter all that much. Soon, the baby will be born, and I'll be doing the stay at home dad thing anyway," Sasuke called, cheer evident in his voice._

_Sakura frowned slightly, but smoothed her features before her hyper aware husband could sense it. "You're right..." she agreed as she got under the covers and turned out the lights, her hands coming to rest on her stomach once again. She thought, ruefully, that it was __**always**__ about the baby, about how many babies Sakura could have, and Sasuke being thrilled to stay at home and raise a veritable tribe of children. While she worked her ass off at the hospital and didn't get to enjoy the simple things that Sasuke was able to experience: first words, first steps, first...everything._

_She was tired of coming home from work only to hear how she had missed the myriad adorable __moments that made up their kid's childhoods. Sakura sighed. Didn't Sasuke understand that she could only take off so much time for maternity leave from the hospital? That if he was able to go out and get a job__—__like a real man__—__ then maybe she could stay at home and be a __**real**__ mother for once?_

_Sakura sighed; at times, she really envied Hinata..._

"_Is everything ok?" Sasuke called as he slid under the sheets, his hand caressing her rotund stomach._

"_Uh-huh," she lied, allowing him to touch her pregnant belly as she blankly stared up at the ceiling._

Now, though, things had become clearer. Sasuke still didn't trust himself...and Sakura certainly hadn't helped things by beating him over the head with her annoyance regarding the house arrest situation. It had been frustrating to Sakura when Sasuke had refused to fully enter into normal life again, but now, she figured she could have a bit more compassion about the whole business. She gave Sasuke's hand a gentle squeeze and placed her other palm on his shoulder reassuringly, while Naruto nodded thoughtfully, seemingly already aware of what Sasuke had stated; but the Hokage kept his silence.

Yuki snorted. "That's ridiculous. Everyone that matters trusts you." She gestured to the present company.

Sasuke nodded. "Kami help them, that they do. However, finishing out my sentence for defecting from the Leaf is something I have to do. I trust that you'll keep it quiet for me." _And for the love of Kami, don't tell your baby sister... _

Yuki, who could read the thoughts underneath his words, nodded. "Ok, otousan," she replied evenly, taking everything in stride. Sasuke sighed inwardly in relief. _Well, that wasn't so bad..._

As the group mulled over the conversation in silence, they entered the dusty, dilapidated village that held the old Uchiha warehouse.

"This place is...antiquated..." Yuki stated, trying to sound polite.

Sakura smirked and retorted, "You mean, it's a dump. It hasn't changed much since the last time we were here..."

"Kind of gives me the hibbie jibbies..." Naruto mused as he unconsciously moved closer to Sakura.

They entered a dark hallway and continued walking until suddenly, two menacing shadows crept closer to them.

"Ack! Someone's there!" Naruto wailed, his girly scream piercing Sakura's eardrums.

"Naruto!" Sakura wailed in pain.

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><p><em>an Thanks for reading my dears. Tune in next week when we find out what, exactly, made Naruto scream like a girl, and what awaits Yuki and team seven in the house of the Nekobaa!_

**_Your reviews help me to become a better writer. What did you love? What did you hate? What do you want to see more of? _**_Please let me know via your review! Thanks:)  
><em>


	8. Chapter 8: Signatures

Wow, thanks guys so much for all the kind reviews and support; special thanks to **uchiha.s** whose righteous edits made me laugh at my own mistakes- thanks so much for all your hard work and lovely sense of humor!

Please enjoy:)

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

**Signatures**

"_Said she, smiling coyly as she plucked from the vine,_

_Passionflower fruits, then sprigs of blue vervain,_

_'Were it as bitter as the medicine from purpled gentian,_

_would you bear it all once more to be with me on the mountain?'"_

_~The Second Book of Akash, Verse VIII_

The twin shadows materialized into two cats. "You are quite loud, Naruto-kuuuuun," one purred.

"Sasuke-boy, it's been quite a while," mewed the other.

"Thank goodness!" Naruto sighed in relief as he recognized the two felines.

Sakura punched him in the shoulder. "Baka. Your girly-ass scream just busted one of my eardrums." Yuki silently rolled her eyes, as if to say, 'Really, Hokage-sama? You were scared half to death by a bunch of cats? Tch.'

"Denka, Hina. I brought you something." Sasuke, ignoring the bickering of his compatriots, took out a bottle of what was the equivalent of kitty sake; Denka snatched it greedily with his agile paws. "Right this way, Sasuke-boy!" they called as they moved like fluid shadows down the dark hallway. One of them purred, "Nekobaa will be happy to see you again, Sasuke-boy."

"Hn," Sasuke replied, masking the nervousness in his voice while playing with the hem of his garment. Sakura was the only one to notice Sasuke's loss of his iconic cool and grinned. _I wonder what's eating him..._

They finally made their way out of the dark hallway and into a more brightly lit room; Sakura blinked owlishly. _It looks just like it did when we were twelve..._ The gray, dusty room was piled high with scrolls and weapons, all arranged in an idiosyncratic fashion. Some weapons, like kunai and katana, were familiar; others, like the miniature knives shaped like claws, were strange objects that she assumed were meant to be used by nin cats. In the center of it all was Nekobaa, sitting regally on an embroidered cushion and inhaling thoughtfully on her pipe.

"Sasuke-boy. Welcome back." She exhaled, a thin wisp of blue smoke curling around her gray hair; she squinted at her guests. "And these must be your old teammates, Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan. But this one..." Her eyes traveled over to the towering, lean figure of Yuki, who met the old woman's steely gaze without flinching.

"This is my daughter, Uchiha Yuki." Sasuke introduced his daughter, who bowed politely.

"My, my." The ancient Granny Cat took another slow drag of her pipe as she contemplated the girl standing before her. "She looks just like you, Sasuke-boy." Nekobaa thought to herself, _I wasn't expecting her to be so tall and serious looking...after all, my information tells me that Yuki-chan is only ten. Well, well, I wouldn't expect anything less of Sasuke's eldest kitten._ Nekobaa mused with humor that most girls would be offended to hear they looked "just like" their fathers, and yet Yuki seemed to beam after hearing the remark. The elderly woman smiled softly.

"Hey, Old Cat Lady, is Tamaki-chan still here with you?" Naruto asked with his usual amount of suave.

Nekobaa chuckled at Naruto's inelegant phrasing; as if on cue, her granddaughter Tamaki emerged from the the back storage room. "Hello! Sasuke-kun! Naruto-kun! Sakura-chan! And..." Tamaki looked questioningly at their fourth guest.

"Yuki," the girl offered with a polite bow to the younger storekeeper.

"Ah! Yuki-chan! You must be Sasuke and Sakura's eldest daughter— I've heard so much about you!" Tamaki cried, a friendly grin plastered on her face.

Sakura knew the dreaded 'chan' honorific would throw Yuki into a dither; she nudged her daughter with her elbow, as if to say, 'We are guests here and you _will_ remain polite. Not everyone is aware of your unconventional tastes in honorifics.' Yuki shot her mother an irritated glare before arranging her features to remain smooth.

Tamaki, noticing the scowl, misattributed its cause and began backpedaling, "Ah, I've only heard very good things! Um, that you graduated at the top of your class, and that you excel at fire jutsu..." The girl trailed off in uncertainty, but at Sakura's poking, Yuki smiled politely and responded, "Thank you."

Nekobaa snorted before exhaling slowly; the smoke billowed around her in a heavy cloud, and Naruto, who was standing nearby, coughed a bit from irritation. "So, Sasuke-boy...what brings you to the warehouse today?"

Sasuke bowed. "Yuki just graduated the academy; I thought it was time," he remarked evenly. But Sakura narrowed her eyes in thought as she looked at her husband: was it just her, or was he _nervous?_ His body seemed more tense than usual, as if it took a concerted effort to retain his usual, apathetic demeanor.

"Are you sure that's wise? After all..." Nekobaa remarked cryptically, quizzically raising a gray eyebrow.

Sasuke exhaled sharply before replying, "I know. But it's tradition to sign the summoning contract after graduation. I'm hoping..." he trailed off uncertainly, and now it did not take Sakura's trained eyes to see that the Uchiha was uncomfortable with the situation.

The old woman smiled wryly and murmured, "This should be highly entertaining, Sasuke-boy. Tamaki-chan, be a dear and retrieve Sasuke's summoning scroll."

Tamaki gave the old lady a look that was somewhere between horror and dread. "Um...are you sure?" Nekobaa gave a sardonic chuckle before urging her granddaughter to go with a wave of her hand. With a tense bow, the girl squeaked, "Of course, grandmother!" before scurrying off to find the scroll.

Once Tamaki exited the room, Naruto and Sakura shared a meaningful look. Sakura could tell from the blond's tense, tight smile that he was not going to touch this situation with a proverbial ten foot pole. Naruto nodded his head, insinuating that Sakura should find out what was going on; with a resigned sigh, she turned her attention to Sasuke, whose posture radiated anxiety. "So...Sasuke," Sakura began haltingly, "That was a bit...um...esoteric."

Sasuke winced at Sakura's words. He took a moment to consider his options."You'll find out soon enough..." he finally muttered, opting to let her find out for herself. _Why, oh why, did I ever agree to do this?_ Sasuke thought mournfully as Tamaki approached with his impending doom, otherwise known as the summoning scroll. _Well, here goes..._

Tamaki cleared off a nearby table and unrolled the scroll, revealing Sasuke's neat signature in blood, immediately preceded by Itachi's name in equally tidy handwriting. "Well, Sasuke-boy, maybe you should give Yuki a demonstration before she signs?" Nekobaa purred. Tamaki blanched and backed away slowly. Sasuke, reading underneath the underneath, understood what the old crone was trying to say: _Ain't no way your daughter can sign this contract until you face the music._

With a reluctant sigh, Sasuke bit his thumb, made the appropriate hand-signs, and smacked his bloody hand down on the floor. Black scrolling runes spread out from his hand: suddenly there was a great puff of smoke, accompanied by an ominous growl. Sakura subconsciously placed herself in front of her daughter, as if to protect her. Yuki, impassive as always, seemed nonplussed at the startling turn of events.

"YOU HAVE A LOT OF NERVE SUMMONING ME, YOU DOG, YOU UNGRATEFUL GUTTER CUR!" The smoke cleared to reveal the towering figure of a dark feline who was nearly as tall as the rafters. Sakura paled, and some part of her mind idly thought, _I suppose those are harsh insults, coming from a giant cat..._

"Whoah, Sasuke must have done something _really_ dumb to piss that cat off..." Naruto whispered as he and Sakura exchanged worried looks.

Sasuke gave a pained smile and began, "So... Um... Yeah..."

He was promptly swatted by a giant paw; thankfully, Sasuke had excellent reflexes and avoided the furry harbinger of death with one graceful leap.

"Amaya, please, calm down. I don't want you to destroy my warehouse," Nekobaa called serenely from her spot on the cushion, where she had calmly remained throughout all the excitement; judging from her wide grin, Sakura mused that Nekobaa was evidently enjoying the show.

Amaya brought her large head down to glower at the old woman. "Why was I summoned here? You know our kind doesn't want to deal with this fool any longer!"

Nekobaa smiled a toothy grin. "His daughter just graduated. It's time for her to sign. But I thought it would be better if you and Sasuke kissed and made up first."

Amaya made a face— Sakura thought it looked an awful lot like a human wince—"I'll never forgive that snake handler! That hawk lover! That summoner of dirty stinking cat devourers! Never!" she spat, then turned to glare at the object of her ire. "This bastard signed a contract with the cats first, then he went and signed contracts with two of the worst, snake-EATERS and feathered-HUNTERS! The amount of times he's summoned the cats, I can count on one paw— but snakes and hawks! Oh! Oh! OH!" She swatted at Sasuke again, who neatly dodged. "Now no one has summoned me or my kind in over a decade, and why? Because the last Uchiha turned out to be a cat HATER! Insufferable!"

"Amaya-sama, if it makes you feel any better, I no longer have my snake summons," Sasuke answered with some hope. It was true; Sasuke had lost the ability to handle snakes when Itachi had sucked the Orochimaru out of him during their final battle.

Amaya growled low in her throat. "That's supposed to make me feel better? That you killed your brother, the only one who remained a faithful cat summoner! If it weren't for Itachi-san, you'd still be the slave of the slithering ones!"

Sasuke's face fell, and behind him, Yuki paled— it was not common knowledge that Itachi had died at Sasuke's hand, and Sasuke certainly hadn't revealed this piece to Yuki earlier. At the academy they were taught that Itachi died of natural causes, from some kind of terminal illness! But apparently, that had turned out to be bullshit. _How much information did otousan __omit when he was telling me the so-called truth?_ Yuki thought with no small amount of irritation. Furthermore, what did Amaya mean when she said that if it weren't for Itachi, Sasuke would still be the servant of snakes? But she quickly smoothed her features to remain emotionless, and filed the information away for later; after all, if Amaya was going to be her summons, she could ask all the questions she wanted once she was accepted. Yuki turned to focus on the looming cat summons currently tormenting her father.

Sakura spared a glance at her daughter—they were going to need to do some damage control later— before she rolled her eyes at Sasuke's maladaptive handling of the situation. Sakura, of all people, knew that Sasuke was terrible at apologizing, so she broke in, "Amaya-sama, did you just say no one has summoned the cat summons in over a decade?" The giant black cat sniffed, then turned to face the pink headed medic. She merely growled at her in response, so Sakura continued, "I know Sasuke has been an idiot—" here Amaya nodded wisely, recognizing that at least the pink headed human had common sense— "but if you're looking for another Uchiha to sign a contract with, I can vouch for his daughter." Yuki shook her head at her mother's antics and stepped forward to meet the giant panther. She bowed politely.

Amaya stalked over and sniffed the young Uchiha. "What's your name, kitten?"

Yuki stiffened at being called a 'kitten', of all things, but decided to maintain her civilized demeanor in the face of the giant-and-potentially-violent feline. "Uchiha Yuki, Amaya-sama."

"You're Sasuke's brat?"

Yuki twitched at this. "Y-Yes."

"Do you play with snakes or predatory birds?"

"N-No ma'am."

Amaya swished her tail thoughtfully. "And why, pray tell, do you want to sign the summoning contract?"

Gulping audibly but otherwise maintaining her cool, Yuki stated, "I want to become worthy of being the heir to the Uchiha clan."

The oversized cat made a funny purring sound at this, which Yuki assumed was a throaty feline laugh; Amaya shrank down a few sizes until she was about as tall as a tiger. "Hum..." Amaya circled around the eldest Uchiha daughter in an almost predatory fashion, then sniffed her again. "Do you plan on contracting with any other summons?"

"Not without your express permission, Neko-sama!" Yuki replied hastily.

Said Neko-sama purred at this. "I suppose there is only one more thing to prove then before you sign..."

"Yes, Amaya-sama?"

"Let's spar." And with that, Yuki and the giant cat were gone in a poof of smoke.

"Sasuke! Where has that psycho cat taken my baby?" Sakura shouted indignantly.

Naruto grinned nervously and backed even further away from his pink headed friend with the anger management problem, who was currently focusing her frustration on her husband; her hand glowed with chakra, and she was aiming it towards Sasuke.

Nekobaa spoke up before Sakura had time to commit any acts of bodily harm, "No worries, Sakura-chan. This is standard procedure for the summoning cats. Your daughter will probably come back in one piece. Probably."

This did _not_ reassure Sakura.

The pink-headed ninja exhaled slowly before turning to eye her husband once more. "You're going to have to tell her..."

"About Itachi..." Naruto finished for her.

Sasuke rubbed his temples in consternation. "I _know_. You two don't have to gang up on me," he snapped waspishly.

Nekobaa snorted. "You mean, she doesn't know? What do you teach your children in Konoha?" The old woman shook her head from side to side in disapproval before drawing on her pipe. When she breathed out, the smoke tickled Naruto's nose again, causing him to sneeze wildly. The Hokage was beginning to suspect that there was more than just tobacco in her pipe; he had never had such reactions to normal second hand smoke...

Sasuke sensed that Sakura was going to break into the conversation, and so he offered hurriedly, "It's not as simple as all that..."

"They know he was a double agent at the very least?" Nekobaa murmured.

"Yes," Sasuke replied, "but that's not the really troublesome part..."

Naruto wheezed from the other side of the room, "We didn't really want to teach kids...where the mangekyo sharingan comes from..."

Nekobaa nodded shrewdly, exhaling a long plume of smoke before softly saying, "You know...Sasuke-boy, you're the only Uchiha who has achieved the mangekyo without killing anyone, _per se._"

"What?" Sasuke asked sharply. He could feel his pulse racing at the old woman's insinuation. "What do you mean, _per se_?"

Languidly, Nekobaa explained, "Itachi wanted you to kill him for different objectives: he hoped that afterwards, you would return to Konoha as a hero..." She paused to breath in smoke, and when she spoke, the fumes billowed out over her words, "I'm sure he also wanted to finally come to justice for...what he did." She paused again, letting the meaning of her words sink in— and Sasuke paled, remembering his brother's bloody, smiling face after Sasuke had slain him, happy that finally, he could be released from his terrible, earthly burdens through death... Leaving Sasuke, once again, with the entire burden to bear.

"But," Nekobaa resumed after a pregnant pause, "You didn't actually receive the mangekyo through murder. Itachi implanted it in your forehead just before he died...it was a gift. And it wasn't his death that actually activated the doujutsu. It was your grief over his death, later on, that truly awakened it..."

Sasuke balled his hands into fists and dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands, scoring red crescent marks into his skin. "You seem to have awfully good information, Nekobaa...but I...don't understand..."

Speaking slowly, Nekobaa reiterated, "Itachi _gave_ you the mangekyo sharingan; and it was your grief that later activated it. I often think... I often think that Itachi planned for your mangekyo to awaken much later, perhaps when you were once again fighting for Konoha, and one of your friends inevitably fell in battle, the fate of any shinobi... And that death would lead you back, in your mind, to all the other deaths, and perhaps that would trigger..." Nekobaa trailed off, like the smoke on the end of her pipe. She cleared her throat and continued, "But who can say, really... In any event, when you tell Yuki about Itachi, you can simply tell her he died giving you a gift..." She blew out a plume of smoke and concluded, "And then there wouldn't be any need to tell her the...traditional methods of acquiring the mangekyo."

Sasuke's mind was reeling. He had never considered looking at his mangekyo from this perspective: was Nekobaa speaking the truth? But before Sasuke could think circles around himself, Naruto spoke up, "You know, Kakashi-sensei also activated a mangekyo sharingan... I wonder how...? He never talks about it..."

Nekobaa smiled and replied, "An astute observation. As I said before, Sasuke is the only _Uchiha _to have received the mangekyo without murder. I suspect that Kakashi somehow managed to trigger the mangekyo mechanism via reliving delayed grief, to the point where it became real, and present. But Kakashi's jutsu is weak for two reasons: one, he wasn't very close to Obito, genetically speaking, and two, because he didn't receive a fully developed sharingan in the first place."

"Whereas in Sasuke's case," Sakura breathed, her analytical mind picking up the thread of logic, "Itachi placed the potential for a highly developed mangekyo directly into Sasuke's optical nerves..." After working medically with Sasuke's nerves for years, Sakura could clearly see how this might be possible.

"Moreover," Nekobaa countered, "I believe that since Sasuke's mangekyo was a gift— in other words, the jutsu was given willingly— the sharingan was made even more powerful. After all, Sasuke-boy was able to use the jutsu many more times than Itachi ever could have..."

Sasuke had the strange sensation of vertigo at hearing this, and grabbed a nearby table for support.

"Sasuke, are you alright?" Naruto asked.

Sasuke shook himself out of his discomposure, and with effort regained his expressionless appearance. "Yes. I had just never thought about it...that way." Sakura placed her hands on his shoulders, but his muscles remained tightly compressed. She looked over at Naruto worriedly, who simply shrugged.

It was quiet in the warehouse, but all Sasuke could think about was his long dead brother, and the twin senses of dull grief, and the feeling that while one burden had been lifted, another had been set into place. _So...that jutsu wasn't a direct result of Itachi's murder...but instead, his death served as a catalyst for awakening the potential of a highly developed mangekyo...which at this point, is really only splitting hairs. _No, there was no absolution of his guilt here... But at least he could tell Yuki the truth about Itachi and circumvent the particulars of the mangekyo with more ease... However, this was not the only thing troubling him.

Sasuke had not been prepared to tell Yuki about how he had killed his older brother. It was something he felt overwhelming guilt over, even after all these years; even despite the fact that Itachi had _wanted_ Sasuke to kill him. He, Uchiha Sasuke had murdered the last remaining member of his family: Sasuke was a _murderer._ Sasuke noted grimly that this made him less than an ideal parental role model, and he had _no_ idea how to explain it to his daughter, in a way that she might understand... or at the very least, in a way so that she would not run away from him screaming.

"Sasuke?" Sakura prodded, after a long pause.

"Hn." Sasuke rose and pretended to be engrossed in exploring a piece of weaponry with his fingers, lost in thought.

Sakura looked over at Naruto, who motioned for her to let Sasuke be. She sighed; the atmosphere in the room was absolutely stifling. She let her eyes wander, and they fell onto the open summoning scroll, where Sasuke and Itachi's bloody signatures lay, side by side, like two fallen soldiers on a field of snow. She let out another sigh and spared a thought for Yuki, whose name would be the next to come after Sasuke's; Yuki, who was so eager to assert herself as the future of the Uchiha. Sakura only hoped that the girl could avoid carrying the heavy burdens of her father, that she could carve out a new future for the Uchiha that wasn't twisted with lies and trauma, but instead a reclamation, a rebirth...

Sakura looked over at Sasuke, whose back was turned towards them, and wondered what Sasuke was thinking. They had been married ten years, but sometimes, Sakura felt like she still didn't know him at all; that the man she knew as Sasuke was, at times, a pale transparent film overlaid with shadows and sheets of aged skin, that no light could ever shine through. A single tear ran down her cheek and fell onto her clasped hands resting in her lap. Because no one should have to bear a burden like that alone... And yet, Sasuke wouldn't allow anyone to help him...not even Sakura. In all their ten years of marriage, the subject of Itachi had been taboo; Sakura couldn't help but think that this was an unhealthy way of dealing with the past...

Sakura shook her head; she rose from the floor and began pacing, wondering when Yuki would return...

* * *

><p><em>an _

_I'll try to do my very best to update in a week:)  
><em>

_I worked really hard on this chapter and I would love to know what you think- please deposit your proverbial two cents via a review:)_


	9. Chapter 9: No Answers

A/N hey everyone! Thanks everyone for your awesome reviews, PM's, subscriptions, etc! I love you all;) Extra special thanks to my fantabulous beta, **uchiha.s**. Thanks for your humor and wonderful beta-ing, as always:)

Note on updating schedule: I am almost done the rough draft for this fic! YOSH! So I'm going to take the next little bit o' time to just concentrate on finished it up completely before I update again. Also, I realized that I have been severely neglecting my crack fics, "OMFG" and "Catchphrases"; sorry about that crack fans! Thus, over the next few weeks, I'm going to concentrate my fanfic writing energy on finishing the rough draft of SoA and on updating my crack-tastic fics: **I will try my very best to update SoA in 2-3 weeks!** Thought I'll really bust my butt to make it in two weeks, 'cause you guys rule:)

Last thing: I changed the summary for this fic. I thought the old one was booooooooring! Let me know what you think of the change, ok? :)

Anyway, enjoy this week's installment:)

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

**No Answers**

"_Said I, 'Bitterness a hundred times over and more_

_Walking through the threshold of death's dark door_

_With no fear of the horrors that they contain_

_Just to walk in stride with the lady of the mountain.'"_

The Second Book of Akash, Verse IX

"Where— where are we?" Yuki asked dizzily. It was her third time that day being transported in a rapid, nausea inducing fashion to places far away and strange.

Amaya chuckled. "Welcome to the Bakeneko Coastal Plains, child." She casually licked her fur as said human child looked around in awe: gentle rolling hills covered in spring grass rose and fell until they met the ocean off in the far horizon. Sparse stands of oak trees decorated the otherwise grassy plains and hills, and the muted sun shone through a fine layer of fog. Suddenly, Yuki had no more time appreciating the expansive landscape as Amaya lunged at her. Neatly sidestepping the attack with an acrobatic flip, Yuki regained her footing and glared at her opponent.

"Come at me with the intent to kill, child, otherwise you'll never leave this place alive."

_What the fuck have I signed up for?_ But instead of panicking, Yuki gathered up her courage— along with a few dozen kunai— and prepared to counterattack.

Amaya dodged the knives with liquid grace as she formed signs with her paws. "Neko arts- ghostly fire jutsu!" A plume of pale fire surged out of the cat's mouth: Yuki barely had time to dodge, and the ends of her hair were singed to show it.

As Yuki muttered under her breath, "_Damn it! Otousan never mentioned that cats knew fire jutsu!" _she weaved together hand-signs in a quick blur. "Fire style- fire ball jutsu!" she roared, as a fireball the size of a small house hurled towards her opponent. Unfortunately for Yuki, Amaya merely increased her size; by the time the fireball reached her, Amaya was the size of a mountain and the offensive technique passed harmlessly under her legs.

However, Yuki grinned. _The bigger they come, the harder they fall, isn't that what_ _they say?_ Yuki formed a clone while she herself crawled through the grass as invisibly as possible until she stood behind a paw the size of a large tree. _Hope this works!_ The clone enhanced its feet with chakra and ran up the side of the cat, all the while forming the signs for another fire ball.

"Oh, that again? Yuki-_chan_, you'll have to be quicker than that to beat me!" The cat grinned savagely before taking a deep breath, then promptly blew the clone off of her shoulder with the gale-like force of her breath. As her form hit the ground, it disappeared with a loud 'pop.'

"A clone, eh? So then where's the real—"

But Yuki had had plenty of time to prepare her trap: with one pull of the invisible wire, Amaya's legs were neatly bound. "Not bad kid." Amaya shrank down to panther size and shook off the now loose bindings, then lunged at Yuki with her wicked claws.

A few hours later, Yuki was panting heavily, while the Neko summons didn't even have a hair out of place. _That's it. I'm going to die here at the hands of a cat whose mental stability is questionable at best. I didn't even get to say goodbye to my family. I wish I had been nicer to Saki..._ Yuki grimaced and banished her very un-Uchiha-like thoughts. _Come on, I can do this! I have to! _Amaya came closer, and Yuki prepared to defend herself.

But instead of attacking, Amaya merely purred. "You pass, kitten! Well done!" The tiger-sized cat padded over to a shocked Yuki and licked the side of her sweaty face.

"You mean, you'll be my summons?"

Amaya laughed. "I'll come when you really need me. But I think my own whelp will suffice when you need a summon in battle. Tama's been waiting..." But Amaya didn't bother finishing her sentence, as Yuki had just collapsed from exhaustion. _Guess she'll get to meet Tama another day..._ Grinning widely, she picked up the prone ninja by her collar and placed her on her back.

* * *

><p>"Sasuke, you're going to wear a hole through the floor if you keep pacing," Sakura remarked drolly.<p>

"Sheesh Sasuke, you're even more worried than your wifey-chan."

"Naruto, don't call me Sasuke's wifey-chan."

"Aw, but it's super cute!"

Sasuke continued pacing despite the irritating banter of his former teammates; he knew they were just trying to lighten the mood, but he found it tiresome. After all, Sasuke, of all people, knew just how taxing Amaya's test o' worthiness could be. While he _knew_ Yuki would pass, he still couldn't sit still. It was a most mysterious phenomenon.

Perhaps his anxiety was due to the fact that Yuki now knew the truth about Itachi's death: thus, she had been given the first clue to finding out the truth about the mangekyo sharingan. This did not sit well with Sasuke. And despite Nekobaa's revelation about the origins of Sasuke's own mangekyo, and the loophole she offered therein, instead of feeling more at ease, he felt even more on edge.

Additionally, he was not thrilled about the fact that the cat summons seemed to know an awful lot about his shameful past. Were they going to tell everything to Yuki? Maybe he really should tell her _everything_ about his past...and not just about Itachi. Or maybe he was being paranoid?

Maybe he should just trust the cat summons?

Sasuke snorted and continued his frenetic pacing. He was sure that even if he asked the cat summons to keep a lid on it, they wouldn't listen. He wasn't exactly on their list of favorite humans, after all...

"Sasuke-boy—" Nekobaa was about to tell the fretting parent to just _sit_ already, when suddenly there was a large poof of smoke in the center of the room. Amaya strode forward on silent paws and gracefully deposited the unconscious form of one, Uchiha Yuki, on the ground.

"Oh Kami, what the _fuck_ have you done to my child!" Sasuke jumped with a start and practically ran to his daughter. Sakura, who was herself only slightly more composed, did a rapid medical assessment and sighed with relief.

"Just chakra exhaustion Sasuke-kun, she's fine..."

Amaya rolled her yellow slitted eyes. "What, you don't trust me with your own kitten?"

"No, not really," Sasuke muttered candidly.

Amaya growled menacingly and lowered her face towards Sasuke's, but instead of biting his nose off, she licked his face with a rough tongue.

"Does this mean I'm out of the proverbial dog house?" Sasuke ventured, hopeful.

Snorting, the summons replied, "While I regret your wording choice...hmmm. Let's just say, if you personally ever summon me again, you can look forward to rapid, painful, disembowelment via my sharp, pointy claws; but if your kitten summons me or my kin, we wouldn't be adverse to assisting." Amaya smiled, revealing her wicked toothy grin; she made to leave, but Nekobaa motioned for her to wait.

"Amaya-san, I'm going to ask that you keep information about Sasuke's past...classified for now," Nekobaa suggested authoritatively.

Amaya stalked over to Nekobaa and sat on her haunches. "Hmmm?" the feline practically purred.

"He's still...figuring out...how to tell her about...Itachi and what not. Would you mind letting him handle it? It would be better for the child."

Amaya hummed as Nekobaa scratched the feline between the ears. "I rather like your kitten, Sasuke-chan, so... Fine. But do a good job...or I'll take out your liver and eat it with no remorse." Amaya grinned and then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"It seems that Amaya has indeed forgiven you, Sasuke-boy." Nekobaa nodded wisely as she delicately drew on her pipe.

"WHAT? She just threatened him with the violent removal of his intestinal tract! Not to mention _eating _his liver!" Sakura moaned.

Naruto winced at the offending imagery, but Nekobaa merely snorted. "That's just Amaya's way of showing affection." The elderly cat woman rose and strode over to Yuki's sleeping figure, holding out a small bottle of smelling salts under her nose.

"Is this heaven? Oh gods, she sent me to cat heaven, didn't she...just my luck..." Yuki blinked up at the smiling face of the Nekobaa.

"Yuki-chan. You're alive. Hello?" Sasuke called to his progeny, shaking her shoulder.

"Yuki-_san_ will do nicely, mister angel." And with that, she fell back asleep. Sakura snickered.

"Well, I guess we'd better head home...looks like Yuki is down for the count." Naruto grinned as he said this, and then continued, "But first, Nekobaa, do you happen to have any extra cat ear headbands thingies laying around?"

The graying woman snorted, "Laying around indeed. Tamaki, fetch the box of feline communication units please."

Tamaki, who hitherto had been silently watching the madness unfold from the sidelines, smiled and scampered off into the storage room. While she was gone, Nekobaa's smile faded somewhat. She cleared her throat. "I hate to ruin the jovial tone of our gathering...but there's something you all should know..."

She sighed as she adjusted her weight on her silken pillow, pausing to take a drag of her pipe. "It's been rumored among my contacts that Madara has been sighted along the border. In fact...I've even lost some good nin cat agents to this 'supposed' Madara character." Nekobaa sighed, her smokey breath coalescing around her in a gray haze.

Naruto nodded gravely, "Yes. There have been rumors on our end too..."

"I still can't believe it...I thought you took care of that bastard." Sakura sighed and pointed accusingly at Sasuke, who merely shrugged. While the information was not new to her— after all, she was one of the Hokage's top advisers— the intel still pissed her off.

Nekobaa nodded and continued, "I'm afraid he was sighted about 50 miles south of here, in a small border town called Akash. While I'm skeptical that the perpetrator of all these abductions is actually Madara himself, I'm warning you. Take care not to call the Neko summons in battle if it actually _is_ Madara himself."

Sasuke nodded in understanding, but Naruto, ever the impatient one, broke in. "Why is that Granny Cat?"

Nekobaa's eyes flashed nervously, "Because not only does Madara have a contract with the summons, he was the one who created them in the first place."

* * *

><p>"Oh otousan, this is the best present EVER!" Hoshiko squealed as she donned her feline communications unit. "Come on Saki, you try on yours too!"<p>

Saki grinned as she did just that. "How do I look?"

"Cute!" Hoshiko cooed, little stars in her pupiless eyes.

Sakura grinned down at their youngins (minus Ryuu, who was out training, and Yuki, who was passed out) who were all sporting their new cat ears. Sometimes, Naruto was just brilliant. She picked up Takeo in her arms, who was busy feeling the fluffiness of his new ears. He looked up at his mother innocently and mewed like the adorable kitten that he was. She grinned over at Sasuke, who was growing weary under the burden of Yuki's collapsed figure; the poor girl was still blissfully asleep.

"Mom? Can I sleep over Hoshiko's tonight?" Saki asked politely.

"Only if Naruto and Hinata say it's ok?" She looked over at her friends, who were both wearing cat ears as well. _Naruto is nothing but enthusiastic about the things that he likes,_ Sakura mused.

"Of course, Saki-chan can stay over anytime!" Hinata beamed.

"Saki, we can totally talk to cats tomorrow and get them to spy on people for us!" Hoshiko whispered excitedly to her friend once the sleepover permission was granted.

"Nice Hoshiko-chan...but who should we spy on?"

"Um...I dunno..." .

Suddenly, Saki bounced up and down on the balls of her feet and whispered something in her co-conspirator's ear. Hoshiko made a face. "What? Why would we spy on my stupid cousin?"

Saki sighed, "Because Tadashi is like, totally dreamy!"

"Ewwww!"

Sakura tittered to herself as she overheard the conversation. _Never too late to teach children espionage techniques...though I do feel bad for Neji and Tenten's offspring already... _Amused, Sakura called to the present company, "Well, it's late. We'd better get going..."

Sasuke nodded his weary agreement as he transferred Yuki's weight to his other shoulder.

"Goodnight friends...but...Sasuke?" the Hokage called.

"Hn?"

"Meet me in my office first thing tomorrow. I have something I want to discuss with you."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Sure. Later. Thanks for watching the kids, Hinata-san..."

"My pleasure Sasuke-san!" Hinata called cheerfully as they left the Uzumaki household.

The air outside was cool; Sasuke and Sakura walked, each with a child in their arms, lost in their own thoughts. Takeo cooed up at Sakura, then snuggled into her chest, apparently tired from his epic playdate with Sora-chan, and in a moment, he too fell fast asleep.

"I think you got the better deal here, Sakura. Yuki weights a _ton._"

Sakura smiled as she kissed the top of Takeo's head. "Well, she's almost as tall as you, and she's made of pure muscle... What did you expect? You want to switch?" Sakura called mockingly.

Sasuke grimaced. "I'm fine." He switched Yuki's weight onto a different part of his shoulder and sighed. It seemed like just yesterday, Yuki had been Takeo's size, drooling on his shoulder as she dozed. Now, she was a towering giant, and it was significantly less comfortable to carry her sleeping figure.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn?"

"Today was...fun..."

Sasuke cocked his head to the side. "Almost as fun as getting the measles or mumps," he deadpanned. Seriously, being interrogated by his eldest daughter, and then having his ass kicked by a giant cat was _not_ his idea of a fun time.

"Idiot. That's not...I mean, I know there were difficult parts..." Sakura closed her eyes briefly and saw, in her mind's eye, Itachi's crimson signature on the summoning scroll. She opened her eyes and resumed, "But being together with team seven, going on a mission, not to mention watching Yuki-chan... It was nice."

"Hn."

Sakura snorted and bumped into him with her hip. "Just admit it. You had _fun._" Sakura fumbled in her pockets for her keys and opened the door to their house.

The front door creaked open slowly and Sasuke followed his wife inside. "If I say I had fun, will you stop badgering me?"

Sakura displayed a saccharine sweet smile on her face and went to put Takeo to bed. She called, over her shoulder, "Not likely. I enjoy badgering you."

Sasuke winced and vaulted up the stairs, excited to put down the heavy form of his daughter. He opened her bedroom door slowly, alert for any ninja traps she might have set, and after disabling a few, laid the prone girl in her bed. He smiled in paternal pride and kissed her on her forehead before drawing the covers up over her.

Sakura snuck up behind him and laid a soft hand on his shoulder. "She sure has grown..." Sakura whispered.

Sasuke smirked. "I have the bruised shoulders to show for it too."

"Tch." Sakura rolled her eyes, then slid her hand down from his shoulder to his waist. "She's so cute when she's sleeping..."

Sasuke chuckled at that, as he led his wife out of Yuki's room and gently closed the door behind him, muttering, "Don't let her catch you saying that, she'd have your head."

Sakura's smile spread slowly across her features. "And that's why I have to get it in while she's sleeping..." She leaned her head against his shoulder as he opened to door to their bedroom. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Mmm?"

"I think you should start doing missions again..."

Sasuke sighed and released her slowly, walking over to the closet to find some comfortable sleepwear. "Hn."

Sakura winced. She made her way to her vanity table and began brushing her tangled pink hair. "Just...hear me out?" When Sasuke made no motion to respond, she continued, "I've been thinking a lot about what you said today...in regards to the house arrest situation. And first...I'd like to apologize."

Sasuke, who had been shrugging off his shirt, paused mid-motion. "What?"

Sakura smiled softly. "I wanted to apologize for being so angry with you...about wanting to stay on house arrest. I'm sorry. I...I was being selfish."

Sasuke finally managed to remove his shirt, revealing an incredulous look on his face. He replied in a somewhat irritable tone, "Um...but you just said...you wanted me to start doing missions? I'm confused..." Sasuke sat down on the bed, looking a little dazed.

"I just realized that my whole approach around it has been totally wrong. I shouldn't have been so angry and frustrated; I let my emotions get the better of me, and it clouded my judgement. I think I have more of an understanding now, why...why you don't trust yourself." Sakura put down her hairbrush and strode over to her husband, putting her hands on his shoulders and gently massaging his back. "But this is what I think: staying in a state of lock-down isn't going to help you feel like you can trust yourself, nor will it help the village. It will just perpetuate your limbo."

Sasuke exhaled sharply in response. Sakura continued, "On the other hand, if you start going on missions, you can prove to yourself and to the village, in an active way, that you _are_ trustworthy. That you _deserve_ to be here..." Sakura ran her hands through Sasuke's dark hair and smiled softly.

Sasuke took her hands and drew her to sit down next to him on the bed. "Why...why now?"

Sakura shrugged. "It just seemed so natural, all of us going out together today...it felt _right._ And you know..." Sakura paused, searching for the right words. She had kept this feeling to herself for so long, she felt strange sharing it. But she knew it was time, and if she didn't speak, then the words were going to fester and burn in her chest... With renewed determination, Sakura resumed, "I've been feeling like... I've been feeling really unsatisfied with our relationship."

"Because you're never home to have a relationship to begin with," Sasuke threw back.

Sakura's immediate response was to be angry, but she forced herself to take a deep breath. As she had learned from a decade of experience being married, getting angry was the fastest way to getting nowhere with Sasuke. She forced herself to reply, as evenly as she could, "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that..." he muttered somewhat testily.

Sakura exhaled slowly and accepted his surly answer; she knew he wasn't very good at apologizing. "It's ok, you had a bit of a stressful day." Sakura put a reassuring hand on his shoulder before repeating, "But I want to know what you meant by that..."

Sasuke suspired slowly. "You just...haven't been _around._ It made me wonder if I did something wrong...but you just said you're unhappy, so I must have done—"

"Sasuke," Sakura broke in gently, "You didn't do anything _wrong._"

"So why haven't you been available? Why do you spend so much time working and so little time at home?" _So little time with me..._

Sakura sighed and leaned her forehead against the cool skin of Sasuke's shoulder. "It's my fault. I haven't been...completely honest with you."

"Oh Kami, you're having an affair!" he replied with horror.

Sakura whapped him over the head. "Idiot! Who the _fuck_ would I be having an affair with? The bloody milk man? I barely have time to have an affair with you, I've been so busy at work! Can I just finish my sentence! Gah! _Tell_ me you're joking!"

Sasuke smiled weakly. "Sorry. Paranoia. Um..." Sasuke sighed in relief. For a moment there, he had half convinced himself that Sakura was, indeed sleeping with the 'bloody milk man.' _Thank Kami!_

Sakura laughed at her idiot of a husband. "Geez Sasuke, really!" She pushed his shoulder, and he winced; his damn shoulder was already sore from hauling Yuki around earlier today!

Sakura ignored his look of protest and continued, "I haven't been unhappy with _you_, but I've been really pissed off at our situation. I just feel like..." Sakura took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm bored. Because we hardly ever go out and _do_ anything, and it seems like you're afraid to do anything or make any major decisions by yourself...it isn't working for me. I need you to..." Sakura paused for a moment; she wanted to say 'man up,' but that was _not_ going to sit well with Sasuke. She finally continued, "I need you to find your own way. To reclaim your own life!" She turned towards Sasuke and looked at him searchingly. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Sasuke scratched his head. "I think so...basically, you're telling me to get a life," he remarked wryly.

Sakura scooted closer to him and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Um...yeah. And also..."

Sasuke braced himself for the worst. "Yes?"

"I want to stay home with the kids."

"What?"

"I want to get to be the mom...I've birthed three kids and haven't raised one. I was thinking...if you went out and got a job...then I could...do the mom thing. What...do you think?" she replied haltingly.

Sasuke smiled slyly. "Are you trying to get me to knock you up?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and flicked him in the middle of his chest. "It's not fair that you always get to raise the kids and I only really get to see them on weekends, if at all. I'll make a deal with you: I'll have another baby, but _you_ have to go back to work. _Full time_ work."

Sasuke frowned. Sakura knew that, more than anything, he wanted to have more children; but he didn't understand what going back to work had to do with it. "Is it because of the money? Kami Sakura, we have a ton saved up. I know I had to pay a lot of reparations out of the Uchiha fortune— not that it bothers me, I would have given them the whole damn inheritance if you had let me— but between what I have left and what we've saved from your salary at the hospital...?"

"It's not just about money, although I'll admit, I am a little neurotic about saving..." Sakura shrugged. She couldn't help it that she wanted to have enough money to support the children they had; kids were damn _expensive_, and she wanted hers to have the best in life. "It's also about our family being a part of Konoha, of giving back. And you've been doing a wonderful thing, working part time teaching music... But don't you want more? You're one of Konoha's top ninja..."

"Sakura..." He gathered her hands in his and sighed. "I'll go back to work teaching music full time...that's something I can do while on house arrest. But I'm _not_ going to go on missions." Because leaving the village and going on missions meant that his house arrest was finally going to end; Sasuke wasn't prepared for that.

"What if they're non-violent missions?" Sakura pleaded.

Sasuke shook his head. "Sakura..."

She put a finger over his lips to stall him. "Just...think about it?"

Sasuke sighed; he would agree to almost anything to quell her line of questioning. "Ok." He took her hand and kissed it. "Thank you...for telling me what was going on with you. You had me worried."

"Sasuke...did you really think I was cheating on you?" Sakura asked with humor.

Sasuke sighed. "Of course not. I mean, probably not...but..." He sighed. "I just...gave you space and waited for you to come back..."

She laughed at that and kissed his cheek. "You know, you can come out and ask me these things. We've been married for ten years..."

He caught her lips with his. "We don't always...communicate easily..." _And we have this problem where you like to avoid me if you are really, really pissed off or confused..._Sasuke thought bitterly.

Sakura exhaled slowly, her warm breath fanning his face. "It doesn't get easier, does it?"

"Hmmm. It would be helpful if I had more social skills."

Sakura laughed and pulled him into her arms. "Idiot. Leave the house more and you might become a more affable human being."

"Hn." He ignored her and nibbled the tips of her ear. He was glad that he had more understanding of what was going on in Sakura's head; and he was especially relieved that tonight, he might _finally_ get laid for the first time in Kami knew how long. But on the other hand, how long would this respite last?

Because he didn't know if he could follow through on her request.

He wouldn't mind going back to work full time if it meant he could teach music at the academy, and retain an escort whenever he left the house. But to have his house arrest totally absolved, to go on missions for Konoha—that was not going to be possible. Even if he had teammates on his missions, there would come a point on even the most banal of missions where he, personally, would have to execute moral judgments: who could live, and who must die by his hand.

He was not ready for this kind of responsibility. He honestly didn't think he would _ever_ be ready to be a regular ninja again. Look at what he had done in the past! His resume included nothing but lies, deceit, murder and treachery: he should _not_ be allowed to go back on missions. Why in the world would Sakura encourage him to do this? Why should he even _consider_ Sakura's outlandish proposition?

But Sakura was under the impression that he was considering it, and she was kissing his neck in the most delicious way. It was getting hard to think; he greedily drank in her kisses, like a dehydrated man in the desert gulping cool water. He tried to push his thoughts aside, to just enjoy this rare moment of intimacy, but in the back of his mind thoughts continued to nag him: would Sakura continue to love him if he refused her offer?

Long after Sakura fell asleep, satiated and dreaming soundly in his arms, Sasuke remained awake and thought about Sakura's words. He breathed in the scent of her hair; every time she exhaled, the air tickled his chest, as if asking him questions to which he had no answers.

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><p><em>an Buddha says: for good luck, offer your undying love and appreciation to your fanfic writers via a kind review:)  
><em>


	10. Chapter 10: Agoraphobia

WOOT! WE'VE REACHED A HUNDRED REVIEWS! *confetti, stars, and streamers whirl around your computer monitor; author hands you a glass of cyber champagne* Thanks guys! In light of this epic and awesome occasion, I'm kicking my own ass and updating NOW, before I get distracted by the upcoming holiday tomorrow (happy Yom Kippur everybody and anybody who cares!).

Extra special thanks to my beta extraordinaire, **Uchiha.S, **who edited my chapter and made me laugh hysterically at my own mistakes. Seriously, I couldn't have come this far without ya:)

Last note: in terms of the progression of the story, things are slowly but surely heating up! There will be a gradual build up over the next few chapters, but expect some real excitement by chapter 14ish. I swear, there's a lot of action in this fic...it's going to happen! I just like to have a real slow build-up...let me know how you like that (or not!) in your reviews: it will help me to be a better writer:)

Ok, enjoy everyone! And thanks so much for everything! :)

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><p>Chapter 10<p>

Agoraphobia

"_She paused a while, lost in thought,_

_Gathering a bouquet of Forget-Me-Nots,_

_And while her questions she refrained to pose_

_I picked and proffered to her a red wild rose..."_

~The Second Book of Akash, Verse X

Sasuke massaged his stiff shoulders as he entered the Hokage's office. Between being escorted by the ever inquisitive Yuki to the tower, and the terrible aches in his shoulders from carrying said troll the night before, he was in a less-than-stellar-mood. No one could accuse Sasuke of being a morning person.

He thought back to the awkward conversation he had just 'enjoyed' with his oldest, who had 'kindly' dropped her father off here at the Hokage Tower just moments ago:

"_Otousan, who gave you your summoning contract?"_

_Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care?" _

_As if she was slightly apprehensive, Yuki ventured slowly, _"_Well, by the time you graduated the academy...there was no one around to give it to you." _

_Sasuke couldn't get shit past this one. With a slight cough, he replied, "Itachi had me sign it about a year before I graduated. He said it was an early birthday present. It was a few months before..." _

_Yuki looked at him piercingly. "I see. I can understand why you didn't use the cat summons often then." _

_Sasuke exhaled slowly, as if he were a deflating balloon with a tiny puncture wound: it seemed like this would be a good time to have the rest of 'The Talk' with Yuki, before he __lost his nerve. "About Itachi..." Sasuke began slowly, searching for the right words. He stopped walking and put a hand on Yuki's shoulder before continuing, "He wanted me to kill him. But I wish that I hadn't..." __He winced at his own maladroit phrasing and hoped that Yuki could understand him._

_He could feel Yuki's arm stiffen. After a moment though, she relaxed and replied in a susurrant tone, "He wanted you to kill him because of what he'd done to the clan." The young girl nodded gravely, and in a rare display of affection, rested her head on her father's shoulder. "I'm sorry otousan." After a short pause, Yuki stood up straight once again and looked at her father quizzically before continuing, "But why don't they just teach the truth at the academy? Why didn't you tell _us_ the truth, at the very least?" _

_Sirens started going off in Sasuke's head; mentally, he could picture Itachi, the way he touched Sasuke on his forehead, rearranging Sasuke's optical nerves before trailing long, bloody fingers down the side of Sasuke's face__—__just before his brother smiled, whispered, and died.__ Sasuke fought to maintain his cool composure, while on the inside he could feel manic laughter bubbling up in his grieving lungs. Such madness lay underneath Yuki's seemingly innocent questions._

"_Because," Sasuke replied, his voice holding just a twinge of unevenness, "the Hokage, your mother, and I all agreed it was better for you to learn about it...when you were older." _Before you realized that the name of the Uchiha are written in blood and lived in vain_, Sasuke thought grimly. _

"_And Saki...?"_

_Sasuke shook his head at the implied question. "Please keep this information to yourself for now. I'll tell Saki when it's time for her to learn," he murmured in a warning tone__**. **__ A faint morning breeze blew; its cool fingers twined around Sasuke's scarf, the one he tied around his eyes to block out the light. He could feel the ends moving gently in the wind, and he perceived a slight tautness in the fabric covering his broken eyes. No, not his eyes...Itachi's eyes, the ones he stole from his brother's clay cold corpse to achieve his so-called eternal mangekyo._

Please,_ Sasuke thought, _please don't ask any more questions Yuki-chan.

_Yuki nodded slowly. "Thank you for telling me the truth, otousan." She looked at him expectantly, and Sasuke realized that they had been standing stock still in the street for some time; he began walking again, closely followed by his eldest daughter, as they continued their journey through town._

"_You're welcome, Yuki." Sasuke delicately searched her face with his sensory technique, but he could detect nothing from her smooth features._

_Did she really believe him, that what he had said was the entirety of the previously withheld information?_

_For a moment, Sasuke half-convinced himself that he was in the clear; but as the pair walked on in the cool silence of early morning, Sasuke realized that this was Yuki he was dealing with. He may have won the battle, but he was sure that he hadn't won the proverbial war._

_How long could he keep the truth about the Uchiha clan— about the mangekyo sharingan— from his overly-astute daughter?_

Sasuke was so drawn into his pensive musings that as he walked through the hallways of the Hokage tower, he didn't notice a certain, overly cheerful blond just ahead.

"Ah, Sasuke-kun, just the man I wanted to see!" Naruto, beaming like the morning sun itself, rounded the corner and clapped Sasuke on the back. Sasuke, forced out of his thoughts, winced; he didn't know what hurt more, the chipper attitude or the slap on his already strained shoulder muscles.

"Hn," Sasuke retorted as he plopped himself down in a chair in Naruto's office. "What is it you wanted to discuss?"

"I have a mission for you!" Naruto grinned as he slammed the office door closed behind them.

Sasuke was silent for a moment before replying with incredulity, "A what now?"

"Um. A mission. You know, those things that ninja do."

"Right. Except that I'm _not_ a ninja anymore. Idiot." Sasuke, despite his blindness, could tell that Naruto was grinning from ear to ear, which served to further irritate the Uchiha.

"Ok, let me start from the beginning, and when I get to the end, I'll stop. Basically, I need an undercover agent to go to Akash who isn't registered as a ninja— that's to increase the stealth factor, by the way, it's totally genius of me!— to do some basic reconnaissance. And you're perfect because—"

"No."

Naruto blithely continued, "You're perfect because you have a lot of familiarity with Madara. You're the only one who can confirm or deconfirm these rumors."

"The word is disconfirm. _Idiot. _And the answer. Is _no," _the Uchiha ground out. But Sasuke, despite his indifferent exterior, was as tumultuous as a maelstrom inside. _What the fuck! Are Sakura and Naruto in cahoots or something! Fuck! Of course they're in cahoots! They're _always _in cahoots! What the—_

Naruto broke into his thoughts once more as he loudly countered, "Sasuke. You totally _have _to. You're the only one who can do it! The _only_ one! I need someone with an inside understanding of the Big Bad Uchiha to gather intel. You're _going_."

"Like hell I am!" Sasuke rose from his chair with a start, and then delivered an angry kick to the piece of furniture: it shattered into pieces with the sickening thwack of his foot.

Naruto sighed; he briefly considered playing the 'I'm the Hokage and if I fucking order you do to something you'll do it' card, but decided against it. Sasuke was a stubborn bastard, and Naruto knew that he didn't like being goaded into things that weren't his idea in the first place. It was time to lay on the guilt. Naruto lowered his voice and murmured, "Think about your kids**,** Sasuke. If Madara really _is_ back, they'll be the first to be targeted. That guy has an undying vendetta against the Uchiha, and he'll aim for the most vulnerable first..."

Sasuke's anger seemed to instantly deflate at that, and was replaced instead by a sick, plumbean feeling in his stomach. In order to mask his newfound anxiety, the Uchiha retorted, "Thank you, Professor Obvious. Now the ulcer in my stomach lining will go away for sure." _Damn it all_, Sasuke mentally moaned. These were the very same ideas that had been torturing Sasuke in his thoughts recently, and it did not put his mind at ease that Naruto was using it as leverage to make him go on a _mission_, of all things. Furthermore, Sasuke was _certain_ that it was not coincidence that he was having this conversation with Naruto the morning after Sakura had been goading him to reenlist. _They've probably been plotting to get me back on the roster for months, just waiting for the right opportunity to force me into it..._

Naruto continued, ignoring Sasuke's snarky reply, "And then there's the village to think about. Isn't it time you finally repaid your debt to society?"

This sentiment was extremely reminiscent of what Sakura had said to him last night. _And that would be my second Achilles' heel, _Sasuke mused sardonically; he felt truly overwhelmed at that moment, so he responded as any reasonable person might. "Fuck me." Sasuke sat in another chair, moaned, and held his head in his hands.

"Um... I'd rather not," Naruto dryly replied.

"It's a figure of speech. Moron. Gross. Anyway. The answer is _no_. I can't go on missions if I'm on house arrest..." It was a weak argument and both Naruto and Sasuke knew it; the former had been steadily threatening to revoke Sasuke's house arrest for _years _now, and Sasuke knew he had the power to do it anytime he wanted, whether or not Sasuke agreed.

"You are hereby no longer on house arrest. I signed all the official paperwork already. Your village _needs_ you, Sasuke. It's time you paid back Konoha by being a ninja again, and _not_ by being a prisoner. Please tell me you'll go!"

_Tch. Seems like the idiot has already assumed that I'll do it. _Sasuke grimaced. "If I decide to do this...what's my cover?"

Naruto grinned, as it seemed like he was winning the battle. "You're a traveling musician playing for tips on the street and beer in the bars. No one has seen you outside this village in over a decade, and without your tell-tale sharingan, I don't think anyone will recognize you."

"I'm not using sound jutsu."

"You don't have to use _any_ jutsu: this is a totally nonviolent mission. Just play some music and keep your eyes...um, I mean your ears open. So, you'll agree?"

Sasuke scratched the back of his head. "On one condition."

Naruto, ecstatic at hearing this, loudly proclaimed, "All right! For sure, whatever you want!"

"Put the death seal on me."

Naruto blanched. "Sasuke—"

"In fact, put an ANBU tracking seal on me, so that _anyone_ in this village can track me, as well as the death seal."

"_Sasuke_—"

"Give me the seals or I'm not going." The Uchiha crossed his arms; if he hadn't been blind, he would have been glaring at the Hokage.

"What the fuck Sasuke!" Naruto, who was at this point thoroughly confused, continued to scream, "I'm not putting the death seal on you! For fuck's sake, get a hold of yourself, man!" The aforementioned seal was a jutsu that Naruto had recently learned from his father's old journals; many an unfortunate hamster had been the victim of learning this particularly nasty seal, which would kill the recipient instantly at the discretion of the caster if and when they chose to activate it. It was something the Uzumaki had been developing to use on prisoners recently released on parole to ensure good behavior upon their reentry into society.

Sasuke, in light of Naruto's loud voice, merely cocked his head to the side. "No seal. No deal."

"Sasuke! You! You just wait right there!" Naruto called in the voice of a stern teacher. There was a faint whizzing sound, which Sasuke assumed was the result of the hiraishin. _Where the heck did the moron just go? _Sasuke didn't have to wait long, for a few moments later Naruto returned with Sakura in tow. Sasuke refrained from smacking himself or from destroying more pieces of furniture, but it was very, _very_ hard.

"SASUKE!"

"Sakura-chan," he replied evenly.

"What the hell Sasuke-kun! You will not, you hear me, you will NOT have a fucking death seal put on your body, or so help me Kami, I'll kill you myself!" Sakura cracked her knuckles menacingly.

"Um...Sakura? I don't think that'll help..." Naruto ventured, but he was outright ignored by his pink-headed teammate.

"Think about our kids! Think about me! You can't just walk around with a fucking death seal!" Sakura ended her speech in a huff and glared down at her seated husband. In a quieter tone, she continued, "Sasuke. We've _already_ talked about this. You _know_ you should do this mission: you're the _only_ one who can do this mission. Naruto and I are asking you to stop being such a big baby about this..." She trailed off, uncertain of the impact of her words.

Sasuke inhaled slowly. "Why do you two sound like my parents?"

"Parents usually ground their kids—we're trying to finally _unground_ you!" Naruto broke in, laughing uneasily.

_Unground me indeed..._ Nothing could have been a more apt description of how Sasuke felt just then, as if the ground had been pulled out from under his feet, and he was lurching, falling slowly in suspended time.

"Please Sasuke. Do this for us. For the village. For the _kids,_" Sakura whispered softly; each sentence was like a nail in his coffin.

How could he say no? After all the shit he had put Sakura and Naruto through... But now they were asking him to undo everything he believed in about duty, about service: about his own feelings of safety. Sakura's words echoed through his mind: "_For the kids..."_ He remembered the day when Shikamaru had first shared his musings on Madara's return; they were standing outside of the Uchiha residence while their children were playing in the living room, their childish voices echoing outside in innocent laughter. Sasuke would give his life to protect the children of this village, _his_ children: Yuki, Saki, and little Takeo. Not to mention his future children, which, if he sucked it up and went on this journey, would be more likely to be born.

Maybe his hope for the future could finally outweigh the trauma of the past?

"Sasuke? Will you do it...?" Naruto asked after the pregnant pause.

"Fine. Just the ANBU tracking seal then. Do we have a deal?"

Naruto sighed in relief and looked at Sakura, who silently nodded her approval. "All right, all right, you paranoid bastard. I'll put that seal on you, and then you'll need to get your things packed: you're leaving this afternoon."

"This afternoon?" Sasuke asked, surprise and disbelief etched in his voice.

"You'll be fine, you tough old bastard!" Naruto laughed and clapped the Uchiha on the shoulder, making the latter wince in pain. "Besides, we'll need you to move out while the trail is still fresh. We need that data as soon as possible! Now, let's get started on that seal..." Naruto rolled up Sasuke's sleeve and began channeling chakra into his shoulder: it felt extremely unpleasant, like an inmate who was trying to give a fellow prisoner a tattoo via a rusty needle and a ball-point pen.

But Sasuke was too distracted by his own thoughts to fully notice the sensations of discomfort, or the banter of his two former teammates over his head. Because for the first time in his life, Sasuke was feeling extremely agoraphobic.

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><p><em>an_

_Note: no hamsters were harmed in the making of this fic:) lol!_

_Things are going to be a wee bit crazy these next few weeks: I'll try my best to update in a week's time, but it might take me two weeks to get the next chapter up. Thanks for being patient with me!_

_Last note: I really feel like I've improved my writing so much through this fic. It's all thanks to your reviews, which give me the feedback I need to continue to improve my creative writing skills. So please tell me: **What are you enjoying in this fic? What do you want to see more of?** Your comments are extremely helpful, and I truly take them to heart:) Thanks so much!  
><em>


	11. Chapter 11: Missions

.:a/n:. Hey everyone! Welcome back to SoA! Man, what a crazy week. I think the best part about it is Bjork's new album...mmmm...love Bjork. Anyhoo, special thanx to **dazynl8** for her beta goodness:)

Also, I've worked a lot on the playlist for this fic, which is up at:

**h t t p : / / grooveshark. com/playlist/Song+Of+Aether/55716672**

It's got over 200 songs in it! You can follow the above link, minus all the obnoxious spaces, or follow the proper link in my profile. Song recommendations are always welcome: just let me know via your review:)

Last note: I briefly introduce a character from the prequel to this fic, "Aint Nobody Who Can Sing Like Me," called Akemi. If you are curious to read more about her, she makes her debut appearence in chapter 25 of "Sing Like Me." She'll be an important character later on in this story:) As always, you can **check out my profile for the list of characters in this fic**, which is at the very bottom of my profile:)

Here's an extra long chapter this week, just because you guys rock, and because I got a little obsessed with the excellent adventures of Saki and Hoshiko:) Xoxoxoxo!

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><p>Chapter 11<p>

**Missions**

"_Saying, 'Let us speak no more of death and beyond_

_The fate that is the final chord in life's short song;_

_Instead let us give thanks, and endeavor _

_To enjoy what little time we have together.'"_

The Second Book of Akash, Verse XI

The rest of the morning went by in a whirl: he packed his things, and said goodbye to his children as they left the house for school. When he kissed a protesting Yuki on the forehead, he almost mentioned that she shouldn't use her new summoning jutsu against Madara. But then he thought the better of it: first of all, Madara's theoretical appearance was all conjecture at this point, and secondly, the possibility that he was alive at all was _classified_ information. Sakura would have killed him if he had talked about these speculations in front of the kids; after all, the whole reason he was preparing for this mission was to confirm whether or not the rampant kidnappings on the border were, in fact, due to the ancient Uchiha. No need to worry his children at this point. He made a mental note to have a private conversation about the matter _after_ he came back from his mission.

Sakura had taken the rest of the morning off from her work at the hospital just to help him pack. "Make sure you bring enough socks! And underwear! And—"

He stilled his anxious wife with a kiss. "Hey, I'm an elite ninja, not a kid going off to summer camp. I'll be fine," he remarked drolly.

Sakura giggled at that. "Well, you never did take the chunin test, so _technically,_ you're still a genin..."

Sasuke sighed wearily and kissed his wife again, hoping that that would be the end of the merciless teasing. Instead, she looked up at him mischievously— "Sasuke-kun, we have about an hour before you have to leave, the girls are at school and Takeo is sleeping..."

"You talk too much." He promptly picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

Sure, at first Sasuke had been a bit—no, _extremely__—_ crabby at the thought of going on his first mission in over a decade. But when Sasuke and Sakura left the Hokage's office, and Sakura had surreptitiously groped his _ass_... and then whispered the most delicious things in his ear...well, let's just say Sakura had a way of making Sasuke forget his melancholic thoughts. _Maybe, just maybe,_ Sasuke thought, _maybe Sakura and Naruto are right..._

About two hours later, a slightly bemused Uchiha presented himself at the village gate.

"Sasuke, you're late!" Naruto wailed from beneath the archway, a large piece of paper in his hands.

"Sorry Naruto, Sasuke was helping me...with the laundry!" Sakura called cheerfully.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the stupid lie Sakura was trying to feed him and continued, "Check this out Sasuke-kun, this map was drawn with chakra enhanced ink, so you'll be able to 'read' it. Pretty cool, hey!"

"Hn." Sasuke sent out a few threads of chakra; indeed, as Naruto had stated, Sasuke could sense the familiar contours of the Fire Country territory in two dimensional, chakra-enhanced topography.

Naruto handed his compatriot the map and then tapped his fingers together anxiously. "Um...so...um..."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Hinata-chan?"

Naruto stuck out his tongue and countered, "Very funny. Ha. Ha. I'm just worried about you teme. Are you sure you aren't going to get lost? Do you—"

Sasuke snorted and waved dismissively in the Hokage's direction. "Please, you're just as bad as Sakura. We all know I'm not afraid of leaving this village." _Hopefully no one can sense that I'm lying through my teeth._

Sakura elbowed him in the side. "Shut up, asshole. That's not funny." She glowered up at him, as if to say, 'One false move and I'll ruin your after-sex-glow with a broken nose, and no I won't heal it before you go on your mission, you inconsiderate pig.'

After ten years of marriage, Sasuke was adept at reading what was underneath Sakura's words, so he simply squeezed her hand and replied, "Sorry."

Once it seemed that Sakura was placated, he rubbed his abused side and turned to Naruto. "Naruto, I've decided to bring my mandola instead of the guitar...one, it will help my disguise, and two, it's easier to carry."

"What's a mandola?" Naruto ventured, leaning against the gatepost.

"It's like a viola, but instead of being played with a bow, it's picked or strummed. Like a lute. I'd give you a concert, but some asshole is forcing me to go on a mission, and Kami forbid if I'm late, so..."

Sakura elbowed Sasuke in the same place again. "Sasuke, don't be such an ass."

"Sorry." He sighed and held his side, which he was sure would be black and blue in a matter of minutes. Thankfully, Sakura noticed his wince and funneled some healing chakra into his aching ribs, and then for good measure funneled some chakra over his forehead to ease any possible tension headaches. When she finished, she drew him into a forceful bear hug.

"Be careful you big idiot."

"I will."

"Come back soon."

"I'll try."

She raised herself up on the balls of her feet and pecked Sasuke on the cheek. "Will you miss me?" she whispered into his ear.

"Not as much as you'll miss me," he said with a smirk.

"Idiot." She grabbed his chin and landed a forceful kiss on his parted lips. "Just...be careful."

"I know."

The couple parted with a collective sigh; Naruto stepped forward to pat Sasuke on his shoulder, which made the latter wince in pain. Sasuke ruefully thought that Naruto had a really bad habit of poking him in places that were already strained or injured as he muttered, "Ouch. Ouch. Please, that fucking tracking seal still stings from this morning..."

Naruto reeled away. "Ooops! Oh man, I _totally _forgot I put it there!"

"Idiot."

Sakura chuckled and came up behind Sasuke to funnel some more healing chakra into his body over the aforementioned seal as Naruto mumbled, "Well, listen Sasuke, if anything goes wrong out there, just call me via your hiraishin tattoo, ok?"

Sasuke nodded gravely. "Of course. Now will you two stop fretting over me like you're dropping your firstborn child off on their first day of preschool?" The usually sardonic tone in his voice was softened with a rare, full smile. "I'll be _fine._ I wasn't an S-ranked rogue ninja for nothing, ok?"

Sakura withdrew her hands from his back with regret, but forced herself to smile. "And you are ever-so-terrifying with those hobo clothes on. I just wish you could see how great you look!"

Naruto nodded. "My personal favorite piece is the chartreuse corduroy jacket with the hot pink patches on the elbows. You did a really great job with the outfit, Sakura-chan."

"It's amazing what colorful, dirty hippie clothes the thrift store had— they were even on sale! Although I can't decide what I like more, the black felt bowler hat with the green feather, or the wide leg pants with the butterfly patches!"

Sasuke sighed. "Thank Kami I'm sightless and can't see the atrocity that is my outfit. Although this gaudy polyester ensemble might make anyone else who sees _me_ go blind... After all, Saki told me this morning that lime green _so_ doesn't go with mauve and magenta in the same get-up." Sasuke shrugged theatrically before continuing, "You can't expect a blind guy to have decent fashion sense." He gathered his friends into a quick, somewhat awkward hug. "I'll be back before you know it. See you." And with that, he quickly turned out of the village and down the road through the Konoha forest, because if he didn't extract himself soon, he feared he would never leave.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!"

"Bring the kids home some presents!"

"Let us know if you need anything!"

"Come back soon!"

Sasuke merely waved silently over his shoulder as he walked away.

* * *

><p>Naruto turned to Sakura after their compatriot had disappeared on the horizon; Naruto's smile faded and turned into a look of vague apprehension. "So," Naruto ventured, "did you tell him yet?"<p>

Sakura ran a hand through her hair anxiously. "Not yet...I'm kind of nervous to tell him."

Naruto snorted. "He must know. Either he really gets a lot of tension headaches, or he knows you've been working on his optical nerves..."

Sakura toed the ground with her sandaled foot. "I don't know. I just didn't find the right time to tell him..."

"You say he's ready for a transplant though?"

Sakura nodded. "After about ten years of working steadily on him, yeah. He's ready."

Naruto grinned. "Now we just need to wait for some old geezer to drop dead so we can 'borrow' his eyeballs!"

"NARUTO!"

"What?"

"Idiot," Sakura ground out as she hit him in the shoulder, "it's bad luck to talk like that before a mission."

"You don't really believe—"

"Just call me superstitious or something. Gah! All right, I'm going back to work before I start crying."

"Aw, Sakura-chan, you're a big softie—"

Sakura groaned and punched him in the arm again. "Idiot." She spared him a smile, then strode away towards the hospital, leaving the Hokage rubbing his abused side.

* * *

><p>Sasuke casually waved over his shoulder. <em>Those two are worse than mother hens.<em>

Judging by the angle of the sun and the temperature, Sasuke gauged that he only had about five more hours until sunset. And the journey to Akash took about a day and a half. Sasuke idly unfolded the map and traced the lines between Konoha and Akash; it was pretty much a straight shot through the forest to the southwest boarder.

Akash was the first village at the entrance to the long range of ragged mountains that divided the southern half of the Fire Country from Kawa no Kuni, otherwise known as the Land of Rivers. The actual town of Akash was in the foothills, but the looming mountains above it were called the Akash ranges. _A fitting name, as Akash refers to the aether and the upper realms of the sky._ Sasuke hadn't spent any extensive time in the area, as it was a fairly remote and inaccessible location, but they were famous for inspiring many reclusive monks and famous artists.

Sasuke lazily gathered more chakra in his index finger and explored the coastal mountain range, whose low hills rose beginning at the border with the Mist, and then grew in majesty and might from the struggle of tectonic plates until the mountains towered over the sea as they reached the end of the continent. Most Konoha nin never traveled this far south; the main routes out of the village involved going on missions to Suna— where one would sidestep the larger mountains by traveling over the lower rolling hills on the northern border to River— or they would go on missions to Ame and Earth, which were both too far north of the more majestic Akash peaks for more people to have traversed them often.

Sasuke then found himself tracing the interior Kasai Mountains, otherwise known as the Fire Range, that divided Ame and River from Suna, turning the former into wet, lush countries, and depriving the latter of moisture by virtue of the wind patterns and the mountain range's slopes. Sasuke had always thought it was ironic that the "Wind" Range lay in the Fire Country, while the "Fire" Range spanned the length of the Wind Country, but chalked it up to someone's strange sense of humor; or more likely, an ancient Ying/Yang approach to the elements that put a bit of an opposing quality inside its compliment.

Eventually, Sasuke's thoughts turned from geography to observing the stillness around him. He could feel the last pale rays of sunlight warm his face as he listened to the soft gurgle of a nearby creek, laughing like a watery nature spirit. Above him, birds settled into their roosts and sang good evening to their feathered neighbors. A light wind rustled the trees like a hand brushing against a string of paper lanterns. He realized, with a start, that this was the first time he had been truly _alone_ in well over a decade and, much to his own surprise, he found it extremely refreshing.

In that moment, no one was dependent upon him, and no one was issuing him orders. He was his own person; the birds sang for him alone, and the song of the gushing creek was heard only by his ears. The sound of his blood rushed in his veins, and the slight smile on his face was for no one but himself. He stood still for a moment and relished the feel of the sun on his face, a purely selfish gesture; how decadent it felt just to stand still and do nothing, without a care for anyone else!

The fullness of nature surrounded him like cloak woven of sunlight and bird song; he felt extremely centered, something he imagined a monk might feel as he meditated on the crest of a mountain. Content, Sasuke continued to walk, then gathered chakra into his feet and climbed into the boughs of a large oak tree; there, he began setting up his tree hammock.

As the last beams of light faded, however, and the songs of the birds turned into the curious screeches of bats diving for mosquitos, Sasuke found himself twiddling his thumbs, unable to sleep. His thoughts kept repeating themselves, like a needle falling into a well-worn groove that skipped at the same point on the record every time. _I wonder if Sakura is getting on all right without me...I hope she remembers to pack the kids' lunches tomorrow. Did Saki get her homework done? The kid is brilliant, but she really needs someone to nag her... I wonder if Yuki has begun training with her summons?_ After a few moments of this, Sasuke mentally chided himself, forcing his thoughts to still so that he could sleep. But even though his mind slowed momentarily, he still found himself wistfully sighing, wishing he knew what his family was up to at that moment.

* * *

><p>There was a knock at the door: but Hinata was busy cleaning up their dinner dishes, Naruto was fussing with Sora-chan, and Ryuu-kun was nowhere in sight. Hoshiko sighed before announcing, "I'll get it!" She stifled the urge to use the byakugan and instead glanced through the peek hole in the door. "Oh, Saki-chan, it's you!" She opened the door with a grin.<p>

"Hey Hoshiko-chan, hope I'm not interrupting anything?" Saki asked, smiling broadly.

"Of course not. Come in!"

"Actually...I was going to ask you if you wanted to go out!"

"Um...ok, sure. Let me just check with my okaasan."

After taking a moment to get Hinata's approval, Hoshiko returned to the open door. "She says I have to be back before dark."

Saki nodded furiously, sending her two braids bouncing up and down on her back. "Great!" The pink haired girl grabbed Hoshiko's arm, and before the Uzumaki could protest, they were off.

"Um...Saki-chan, where are we going? Do you want to train, maybe?" Hoshiko took back her arm and jogged to keep abreast of her companion, hoping that indeed, Saki would want to spar. _Please, Kami, make her want to train tonight! Please, please, __**please**__!_ Because the Spirits knew, the alternative was bound to be her least favorite activity.

"Well, I was wondering if we couldn't snoop around the Hyuga complex a bit..."

"Saki-chan! Not again!" She was afraid Saki would say that. Hoshiko moaned and slapped her forehead with her palm. This was literally the third time this _week_ Saki had insisted on stalking her cousin Tadashi.

"Oh, pleeeeeeeease Hoshiko-chan!"

Their pace slowed to a brisk walk; Hoshiko fingered the ears of her feline communication unit (which she refused to take off, even to go to sleep), and groaned. "I'm telling you Saki-chan, my cousin is just _not_ that cool."

Saki sighed dreamily. "But he's so..._good looking_."

Hoshiko covered her ears— her human ears that is. "Saki-chan?"

"Mmmm?"

"Gross."

Saki laughed breathlessly and began to run; Hoshiko squealed and followed close behind. Before she knew it, she and Saki were crouched under the bushes to observe Neji and Tadashi's nightly spar.

"Saki-chan," Hoshiko whispered furtively, "you realize it is incredible stupid to snoop around a stronghold of byakugan-users, right?"

Saki merely grinned and replied, "Tch. I'm an Uchiha. No one will be able to see through my genjutsu!" And with that, the younger girl wove a few hand-signs and concealed their location via an illusion.

Hoshiko shook her head. Just because they hadn't been caught _yet_ didn't mean it wasn't going to happen; it was only a manner of time before they were found out.

It seemed that just as Hoshiko thought those fatalistic words, Neji frowned and paused mid-spar, focusing his byakugan on their location. Though it was childish, Hoshiko put her palms over her eyes—

But through the cracks in her hands, she could see that Neji's grimace had morphed into a grin.

"What, otousan? What are you smiling about?" Tadashi demanded.

Neji grinned some more, but didn't respond until he began sparring again, forcing Tadashi to block his moves. "Why don't you look for yourself? This will be a good test for your byakugan." Neji then paused in his attacks and gestured for Tadashi to look for himself.

Tadashi eyed his father askance, then focused his byakugan in Hoshiko and Saki's area. Hoshiko knew they should make a run for it, but she was transfixed like a deer in the proverbial headlights. She spared a glance at Saki, who was squinting while focusing on her genjutsu.

"Otousan, I see a slight chakra disturbance in those bushes..." Tadashi murmured.

Hoshiko gaped at her cousin and uncle in horror, as Neji began to instruct Tadashi in the art of seeing through genjutsu.

"Saki-chan, let's get out of here!"

Saki, ever the stubborn mule, shook her head no and continued to weave hand-signs. Hoshiko closed her eyes; she was nowhere near as talented in genjutsu as Saki, and if she left Saki's side— and her protective bubble of illusion— then she was doomed. The Hyuga resigned herself to crossing her fingers and having faith in the Uchiha's supposed forte of illusion casting—

"Oi! Hoshiko! Saki! What gives!" Tadashi yelled.

Hoshiko winced; apparently, they had been outed. So much for the invincible Uchiha genjutsu. Hoshiko and Saki emerged from the bushes looking like two guilty convicts being caught red-handed at a bank robbery.

"Um, h-hi ojisama, T-Tadashi-san," Hoshiko mumbled, bowing to each of her relatives in turn.

Saki, however, was blushing the shade of an overly ripe tomato, and was unable to comment. If Hoshiko hadn't been in trouble, she would have rolled her eyes at her friend. _I can't believe she has a crush on my cousin, and that it's reduced her to a blushing fool...not to mention that because of her stupi__d obsession, we've just been caught stalking my cousin. How embarrassing..._

Tadashi was fuming, but Neji, on the other hand, was grinning broadly. Hoshiko wondered if that was what Saki's mother called a proverbial 'shit eating grin,' a statement usually used in reference to Naruto. But she had no time for further contemplation, as Neji called, "Oi, Tadashi, trying to burn a hole through our visitors via your retinas is no way to treat guests."

Tadashi blanched, then bowed, saying as evenly as he could, "Welcome, Hoshiko-sama, Saki-san, what brings you here?"

Saki was still asphyxiating due to her own embarrassment, so Hoshiko ventured, "W-We were just observing your p-practice with ojisama, Tadashi-san. I hope we didn't cause you any trouble." _Damn my __stutter! _It was an annoying habit she had picked up from her mother that truly only emerged when she was under pressure.

"Oh, you were no trouble at all girls!" Neji offered brightly before his son had a chance to respond. "You offered a wonderful opportunity for Tadashi to practice his defense against genjutsu. I thought he would have picked up on your presences the last few times you were here, but—"

At this, Tadashi sputtered, "What? Have you guys been stalking me?"

Neji stifled a chuckle and instead retorted, "Tadashi-kun, manners!"

"Sorry..." he mumbled, not sounding very apologetic.

Neji continued, "Now as I was saying...oh yes, I must say Saki-chan, your genjutsu is really coming along. I'd say you are just about at chunin level with your illusions."

Upon receiving the compliment, Saki opened and closed her mouth like a fish gaping out of water, which caused Neji's chuckle to deepen. Thankfully, the sadistic adult didn't laugh long, and instead turned to Tadashi and asked, "Why don't you get some tea for our honored guests?"

Tadashi schooled his features to be smooth— though it took some obvious effort— before bowing and going into the house for refreshments.

As soon as Tadashi went in, Tabby, the Hyuga's orange cat, sprinted towards Hoshiko and rubbed himself against her legs. "Hey Tabby-kun!"

The cat lovingly gazed up at Hoshiko and called, "Hoshiko-chan! You've got to help, Tadashi's been kicking me again!"

Hoshiko looked down at the cat in horror before picking him up. Saki, having regained her composure in Tadashi's absence, decided she didn't like being left out of the conversation and thus donned her feline communication ears as well. "Is something wrong with Tabby?" she asked softly, taking in Hoshiko's worried look.

Tabby fixed Saki with his best, pathetic look; Hoshiko thought it looked like the cat version of puppy eyes, though she was sure Tabby would be offended to hear her say so. "Saki-chan, Tadashi has been hurting me!"

Saki's mouth rounded into a little 'o'. How could Tadashi (sweet, godly looking Tadashi) ever be accused of such a crime? She swiveled to look up at Neji who was eyeing them askance; obviously, he couldn't understand Tabby without the proper equipment.

But before Saki could question Neji about the cat, Tadashi returned with the tea and they went to sit on the deck. Hoshiko didn't want to be impolite, but she also couldn't be quiet about cat abuse! She looked at Saki from the corner of her eye; her friend was holding the cat in her lap and listened as it began expounding on the list of grievances he had against Tadashi.

_Uh-oh, _Hoshiko thought with no small amount of trepidation. Saki's face was getting redder and redder, but this time it was not from embarrassment. The Uchiha's infamous temper was rising, and before Hoshiko could even lay a pacifying hand on her arm, Saki spoke.

"Tadashi-kun, Tabby here says you have been kicking him..."

Tadashi rolled his eyes and continued to sip his tea, nonplussed. "That's because he's been scratching me."

"He says because you sprayed him with water." Saki fingered her full cup of tea with obvious irritation, but made no motion to pick it up.

"He pissed on my bed."

"He says he did that because you forgot to feed him!" This time, Saki slammed her palm down on the table, causing her tea to slosh over the edge of her cup and spilling a few drops onto the table.

"I was withholding food as punishment, because he broke my favorite tea-cup."

Tabby mewed pitifully.

"Because you spilled boiling water on him!" Saki all but shrieked. Hoshiko bit her lower lip. _Well, looks like Saki's crush on my cousin w__ill have been short lived...at least we won't have to stalk him anymore!_

Hoshiko looked up at her uncle; Neji was pouring tea with the best poker face he could manage, but Hoshiko could tell he was trying hard not to smile. _Gah. I wished mom hadn't let me go out tonight. This sucks._

"Hot water? Oh, I was making tea. But that was an accident," Tadashi murmured in an off-handed fashion.

"BUT YOU NEVER SAID YOU WERE SORRY!" Saki roared.

Tabby nodded and stuck out his tongue at his owner.

Tadashi eyed Saki disdainfully. "It is impolite to shout." He frowned, as if to say, 'Really, have you no manners?'

"IT'S IMPOLITE TO HURT KITTIES! I'M REPORTING YOU TO THE AUTHORITIES FOR CAT ABUSE!"

Hoshiko sighed and put a calming hand on Saki's arm before breaking in. "Tadashi-san, please just apologize to Tabby-kun. It was really not nice to spill hot water on his paws."

Tadashi raised his eyebrows. "Really?" But then Neji nudged him in the side, and the boy paled. "I'm sorry, Tabby-kun..."

The cat rose, arched its back, then hissed at Tadashi before retreating under Hoshiko's chair.

There was an awkward silence that ensued after that; Hoshiko tried to nonchalantly sip her tea, but in her distress, ended up spilling a bit on herself and blushed in embarrassment. Finally, Saki could no longer take the oppressive quiet and stood. "I'm sorry, my mother said I had to be home by now."

"I'll walk home with you, Saki-chan!" Hoshiko said a bit too eagerly. She put down her tea that she had barely touched and all but leapt out of her seat.

Neji shook his head. "Thanks for coming by, Saki-chan, Hoshiko-chan. Tadashi-kun, why don't you walk the girls home?"

And despite the girls' protests and Tadashi's stony facade, Neji _insisted_ that Tadashi walk them home. Hoshiko walked in the middle, with an inwardly fuming Saki on one side and an ice cold Tadashi on the other. It wasn't that her cousin was a bad guy, Hoshiko thought to herself; it's just that he had about as much common sense as a toothpick. The two had never been very close, but Hoshiko often sparred with her cousin, and they were often forced to spend time together at family gatherings. It would really suck if her best friend and her cousin didn't get along, after all of that. _I'll try and make some small talk and make this less awkward..._

"So, Tadashi-san...do anything fun lately?"

Tadashi blinked down at her. Hoshiko despised the fact that, even though Tadashi was only a year older than her, he was a whole foot taller. He coughed before replying, "It is not within a ninja's duty to have, quote, 'fun.'"

Saki looked at him quizzically, her anger momentarily forgotten in her curiosity. "You mean...you don't have any hobbies? You don't...I don't know, read manga or build forts or...do other boy stuff?"

Tadashi eyed the Uchiha disapprovingly before reciting his daily schedule, which included mostly training, eating, sleeping, and little else. Hoshiko suppressed a sigh, but thankfully, they had arrived at her house.

"No need to walk me home Tadashi. I'm sleeping over at Hoshiko's tonight..." Saki mumbled.

All too happy to have finished his duty for the night, Tadashi bowed and walked home.

Saki scratched her head. "He's...not going to say hi to your parents?"

Hoshiko shrugged. "I think normally he would, except that we interrupted his training and he is eager to get back."

Saki whistled lowly between her teeth.

"Are you really sleeping over tonight, Saki-chan?"

Saki shook her head no. "Nah, I need to be home tonight. Dad's on a mission, and I have a feeling my mom will need moral support. I just said that so idiot-face wouldn't feel the need to walk me home." Saki scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue.

Hoshiko giggled at that. "What? Yesterday, you would have given your right arm for alone time with my cousin!"

Saki shook her head. "Yeah. That was before he opened his big mouth and verbal diarrhea came out. Tadashi is the kind of guy who looks better from afar."

Hoshiko blinked. There was a moment of silence, and then the two girls broke down in hysterical laughter.

* * *

><p>Sakura groaned; it was the middle of the night and her stomach was rumbling. <em>Damn stomach...damn rumbling...<em> She reached blindly towards her nightstand for her habitual granola bar and glass of water. And she kept reaching. Finally, swearing under her breath, she switched on the lamp, and her bleary eyes clearly saw that there was _no_ granola bar or glass of water in sight. The alarm clock on the nightstand blinked 3:30 AM in red LED lights, as if to mock her. _Damn it...Sasuke always puts them out for me..._ Then it hit her— Sasuke wasn't home. She was on her own here.

Half tripping over herself as she made her way into the kitchen, she opened the freezer and withdrew one large tub of chocolate peanut butter ice cream. After she opened the silverware drawer, and unwittingly spilling half of the forks on the floor, she victoriously withdrew one large soup spoon and got to work on her ultimate comfort food.

"Okaasan? What's with all the noise?" Yuki yawned and stared at her from the hallway with bleary eyes.

"Om oating wace creome..." Sakura said around a mouthful of ice cream with a particularly delicious peanut butter chunk.

Yuki shook her head reproachfully. "Dad would never let you eat that stuff at this time of night."

"Mmmmm. Good thing here's not here then. You want some?" Sakura licked the spoon gleefully.

"No thanks. I'm going back to bed." As Yuki trudged back towards her room, Sakura heard another set of footsteps approaching the kitchen. _Guess I can't make this much noise at night in a house full of ninja children..._

"Okaasan?"

"Saki?"

"Oh my gawd, is that peanut butter chocolate ice cream? You vampire, I can see from here that you dug out all the peanut butter veins! Gimme gimme gimme!" Saki sashayed over to the silverware drawer to find her own spoon before all the good bits of ice cream were devoured. Sakura chortled at the hyperactive girl and unceremoniously swung an empty chair around for her daughter.

After spearing a particularly rich spoonful of ice cream, Saki dawdled, "Do you have your period, mom?"

"What? Um...no?"

Saki blinked up at her owlishly. "Then...are you upset because dad isn't here?"

Sakura winced and dug her spoon further into the tub of chocolaty goodness. "What makes you think I'm upset?" she asked, feigning innocence.

"You only gorge yourself on sweets when you're either PMS-ing, or you're upset." Saki nodded wisely as she stole a particularly peanut-buttery bit from the trajectory of Sakura's spoon.

"Troll."

"Dad said I should remind you to pack our lunches tomorrow. You're not going to forget, are you?"

"Aren't you girls old enough to pack your own lunches?"

Saki stuck out her tongue.

"I won't forget, what kind of scatterbrained mother do you think I am?"

Saki rolled her eyes and slammed the lid down on the ice cream. "Mom, don't eat anymore, you're going to give yourself a tummy ache." Sakura pouted, but allowed the youngster to stick the treat back in the freezer.

"Mom, I'm going to bed."

"Ok, see you in the morning."

Saki made a face. "I'm not leaving you in the kitchen unescorted. Go back to bed."

"Meh. I'm going for a walk. I'm too wired on sugar to sleep."

Saki crossed her arms and leaned against the kitchen doorway, leveling her mother a mistrusting glare.

"Fine, fine. I get it. Bed." Sakura smiled and rose from the table to ruffle her daughter's hair.

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><p>"Mom? Takeo is crying."<p>

"Mom! Don't tell me you FORGOT to pack me a lunch! Gods, I even _reminded_ you, dad was sooooo right."

Sakura moaned and looked over at her alarm clock. _Shit muffins. It's already eight o'clock. I should have been at the hospital an hour ago..._ With all the ninja speed she could muster, Sakura shoved on her uniform and tied her hair back in a casual pony tail.

"Mom..." Yuki carried a wailing Takeo in her arms, which she promptly deposited with her mother. "Later, I'm going to go visit Akemi-baachan; then I'm going to go train with my team."

"Oh! I'm so glad you're visiting baachan. Are you going to show her your new summons?" Yuki nodded silently.

Akemi was not actually Yuki's biological grandmother, but was a little old lady who had helped bring Sakura and Sasuke together over ten years ago. The family had kind of adopted her. Akemi, at the ripe old age of 104, often needed help around the house, and Yuki was often the first to volunteer to visit the old woman. It was sweet, really; Yuki and the old woman had a really lovely bond. Usually, Yuki was a bit guarded around her parents, but with Akemi-baachan, Yuki seemed to be more open and receptive. They were truly fortunate to have a grandmother type figure in their lives, since both Sakura and Sasuke's parents had long passed.

Sakura shook herself out of her reverie, smiled broadly and continued, "Have a nice day hon! Here," Sakura rummaged around in her purse with her free hand and handed Yuki a bill, "go ahead and buy lunch today, ok?"

Takeo began screaming particularly loudly and Yuki winced. "Thanks mom. Later."

"There, there, kitten! Don't cry!" Sakura called to the little bundle of tantrum in her arms. Takeo sniffled and then proceeded to screech, this time directly in Sakura's ear. Sighing, Sakura pulled out another bill and ran to the kitchen.

"Told you you'd forget to pack me a lunch."

"Don't say I never gave you nothing," Sakura replied with no small amount of exasperation as she handed the pouting girl some money.

"What, I'm going to _starve_ if this is my lunch money. What do you want me to do, eat ramen?"

"Yes. After all, Naruto ate ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day growing up, and look how he turned out," Sakura intoned.

"Mom? Dad says all that ramen made Uncle-Hokage-Naruto-sama, quote, 'mentally deficient.' Money please?"

Sakura snorted. "Out. Enjoy your ramen."

As Saki scrambled out of the door, she threatened, "Oh, I am soooooo telling dad when he gets back!" Saki stuck out her tongue, and with that, was gone, leaving Takeo to wail piteously in Sakura's ear.

"Ah, Takeo-chan, I know what will make you stop crying!"

Takeo looked at her expectantly and momentarily ceased his antics.

"Ice cream!"

"Ice cweam! Yay!"

At least Takeo couldn't tell on her for her bad eating habits/parenting when Sasuke came home. Kami help them, hopefully it wouldn't be a long mission?

Because the ice cream levels in the freezer were getting dangerously low...and Sasuke usually did the shopping.

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><p>.:an:. _As promised in many a PM, I've included more Sakura POV moments:) Please let me know how you guys are liking this fic! Any suggestions, comments or questions are always welcome via your reviews:)_

_Much love! =^.^=_


	12. Chapter 12: Paranoia and Dirty Hippies

Hello my dears, and welcome back to Song of Aether!

Just a heads up: I will be entering NaWriNoMo, or National Write a Novel Month, which is this November. Hence, **I will be taking a month long break from fanfic writing in November.** However, I would like to get up to chapter 14 before I leave you all; thus, I will try my best to get not one, not two, but three whole chapters to you before I go on a month long hiatus- that sounds fair, right?

All I ask of you is that I receive at least 10 reviews a chapter; that's not asking too much, is it?

**So if you would like the maximum amount of updates before the big break, please review:)** Thanks very much everyone for being the best readers ever, and I hope you like this next chappy!

Special shout out to my beta, **Uchiha.s, **who makes me laugh so hard at her edits it ought to be illegal:) Much love!

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><p>Chapter 12<p>

**Paranoia and Dirty Hippies **

"_Said she, blushing the hue of the flower,_

_'When did you become so clever?'_

_And laughing like the ringing of a bell and free_

_She threw her little arms all around me."_

~The Second Book of Akash, verse XII

"Oi, good morning Yuki-chan! Looks like you're the last one here today!" Konohamaru called as he waved from their familiar meeting place on the training grounds; meanwhile, Cho was busy looking at a pink wildflower, and Ryuu was staring off into space while he picked his nose. It was just another typical morning for the maladroit members of Team Five.

Yuki all but growled, "Konohamaru-sensei, please. _Please. _Yuki-san will do nicely. Sorry I'm late. I had to help out my narcoleptic mother and visit with my elderly grandmother."

"Narco-what-now?" Ryuu looked at her askance.

Cho patted her somewhat dense teammate on the head. "Good thing we don't have to take extensive vocabulary tests to become ninja," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Ryuu asked innocently.

"Nothing Ryuu-kuuuuun!" Cho cooed with a smile.

"Enough kibitzing troops, I've got an announcement!" Konohamaru was grinning all too widely for Yuki's taste; he gave his team a thumbs-up before continuing, "We've got our first C ranked mission today!"

"All right! Nice sensei!" Ryuu beamed.

"Cool." Cho nodded politely.

"I'm jumping for joy. Quick, somebody take my pulse, I think I might be having a heart attack." But Yuki's biting sarcasm (which Konohamaru was sure was genetic or something) could not quell Ryuu's genuine excitement. The blond quickly punched Yuki in the shoulder and ran, calling over his shoulder, "Last one to the Hokage's tower is a rotten egg!"

"The only one who is rotten is you!" Yuki spat, as she began taking long strides after her much shorter compatriot. Cho rolled her eyes and started jogging alongside her sensei as she wondered aloud, "Do those two ever let up?"

"As Lee-sensei would say, they are full of the passion of YOUTH!" Konohamaru laughed.

It was no surprise that Yuki made it to the tower first, followed closely by a winded Ryuu, and lastly Cho and Konohamaru running at an amiable pace. After all, Yuki was excessively tall for her age, and, to put it delicately, Ryuu had yet to hit his growth spurt. But Ryuu, far from defeated, shouted jovially, "Oi, Yuki-chan, bet I can make it to the Hokage's office before you!"

"In your dreams— Ooof! Cheater!" Yuki fell flat on her ass as Ryuu made a mad dash up the steps. Yuki struggled with her shoelaces that Ryuu had _somehow_ managed to tie together in the minute they were waiting for the rest of their team to catch up. "RYUU! YOU ARE SO DEAD!"

Konohamaru shook his head. "Ninja are masters of deception, Yuki. Let this be a lesson in awareness." Cho fought down the urge to offer Yuki her hand, since Yuki looked as likely to bite Cho as she was to let her help her up; instead, the husky ninja raced up the stairs after their sensei. Yuki grinned ferociously and bit her thumb, then smashed the bloody finger down on the pavement. In a poof, Tama appeared. The little black cat looked up at her in curiosity.

"Mistress?"

"Take me up the stairs as quickly as possible!"

Tama grinned and grew until she was the size of a small panther— Yuki hopped on, and in an instant, they were a black blur on the stairwell. _Thank Kami I took dad's advice and started training with Tama! _Yuki had been initially disappointed when Amaya hadn't been the feline that had showed up when she began calling her summons; but after working with Tama for a week, Yuki considered herself lucky. Unlike the intimidating and mentally unhinged Amaya, Tama was an agreeable and placid character. Ferocious and reliable in battles against straw dummies, yes, but overall her temperament was much easier to deal with than her mother's.

Ryuu huffed as he made it into his father's office, but smiled proudly— _Yosh! I totally beat that Uchiha!_— but his smile quickly turned into a look of confusion as he noticed Yuki had already arrived, and was seated like a queen on the back of her summons, albeit still with tangled shoe laces.

"Hey! No far, you used Tama! So _that_ was the black whirl I saw on the steps. I thought I was just dehydrated and seeing things!"

Tama stuck out her tongue and then disappeared in a poof; Yuki landed on her feet as graceful as the jungle cat she had just dismissed and commenced with untying her shoe laces. "Hn."

Naruto grinned down at the genin from behind a large pile of paperwork. "Ninja can use any tool at their disposal, Ryuu-kun. Remember: there's no wrong way to be a Ninja!"

Ryuu moaned, "Dad...I think you just jacked that from a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup commercial..."

"What? Oh man, I was going to use that at the academy's commencement speech, too. Are you sure, Ryuu-kun?"

Yuki smacked herself in the face. Why did she get the impression that she was surrounded by utter incompetence?

"Good morning, Hokage-sama!" Cho beamed cheerfully as she sauntered her way into the office.

"Gooooooooood morning, Naruto-sama!" Konohamaru said with a grin.

"Alright, looks like the whole gang is here! Shikamaru! Hey! Shikamaru! Can you bring gramps in?"

Shikamaru drifted in from the hall and muttered, "Geez Naruto, whenever I come home to the village I become your personal servant. It's so—"

Naruto held his hands over his ears. "Don't say it. Don't. Say. It."

"**Troublesome." **

Naruto sighed. "I'm going to pretend like I didn't just hear that, ok?"

The Nara smirked and opened the door to the antechamber: out hobbled an ancient, wizened man, leaning heavily on a gnarled cane. Naruto gestured towards the stranger and began, "This here is Gomakashi-san. He's a wealthy merchant from Ame, and he requires an escort back home."

Gomakashi smiled agreeably, "I'm terribly worried about all the disappearances happening along the border. It would help this old man sleep at night to have you wonderful ninja watching over me."

Ryuu grinned broadly, "Sure thing, gramps!"

Yuki rolled her eyes and jabbed her rash companion in the side before declaring, in the even tone of a _proper_ and _polite_ shinobi, "It would be our honor, Gomakashi-san."

Naruto chuckled and continued, "Gomakashi has sold all of his wares in town, so you won't need to guard over any wagons. It should be a fairly simple and straightforward mission. The journey to Ame will take about two days going at an easy pace, so we'll expect you back in the village before the week is out."

Konohamaru bowed politely. "Yes sir!"

Naruto replied, slightly amused, "So, does Team Five accept the mission?"

"Yes sir, Hokage-sama!" Yuki formally intoned.

"Yes sir, Hokage-sama!" Cho answered smoothly.

"Hells yeah!" Ryuu fisted the air.

Konohamaru reached out and ruffled the blond's hair.

"Um...I mean, yes sir, otousama!" Ryuu blushed as he corrected himself.

Thankfully, their client seemed to have a sense of humor, as he chuckled at Ryuu's enthusiasm.

As Team Five departed the office, Shikamaru leaned against the back wall, his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

"Oi, Shikamaru, what's got your goat?"

Said Nara shook his head. "Nothing, Naruto…it's just, well, Gomakashi is a weird name, isn't it?"

Naruto laughed. "It literally means hanky-panky, doesn't it? Maybe the guy earned a reputation with the ladies!" He wagged his eyebrows.

Shikamaru shook his head. "It also means underhanded...or deception..."

Naruto waved his concerns aside. "Well, guess I won't be buying any of that merchant's wares then. So, Shikamaru, what else is on the agenda today?"

The Nara shook his head again to clear his paranoid thoughts and began looking at the day's to-do list on his massive clipboard. After all, they had done an extensive background test on the client, and everything seemed to be in order. Still, you couldn't blame the head of the Intelligence Department for being a bit jumpy, what with all the strange happenings on the border. Shikamaru thought that thankfully, Sasuke should return in a few days and shed some light on the whole Madara conundrum.

"First things first," Shikamaru droned, "we've got to get a handle on this paperwork."

"Awwwwww—"

Shikamaru took a deep breath. "If you get all your paperwork done by noon...I'll take you out for ramen."

"You will! Aw, hells yeah! Shikamaru, you're the BEST!"

The so-called genius of Konoha rolled his eyes and unceremoniously dumped a large stack of papers on Naruto's desk; just as Naruto was about to make some hand-signs, Shikamaru interrupted him. "Naruto? Remember what happened _last_ time you used shadow clones to help you complete your paperwork?"

Naruto stopped mid hand-seal, his good mood deflating. "Aw, come on Shika, that was only one time—"

"When your clones mixed up all the papers, signed the wrong things, released homicidal maniacs into the streets, approved funding for a carnival freak show—"

"Hey! Yeah, the prison release thing was an epic failure, but the traveling circus was totally _awesome!"_

Shikamaru sighed wearily. "Just do your paperwork."

"But—"

"No paperwork, no ramen."

Naruto grumbled something about geniuses under his breath and commenced with signing the dreaded papers; Shikamaru shook his head and sat down at his corner desk, there to compile his own reports. It wasn't pretty: the numbers of people disappearing on the border were increasing every day, and the villages on the edges of the country were starting to freak out.

Shikamaru glanced out the window, and fancied that he could see Team Five departing through the front gates. He felt another pang of paranoia and shook his head. They had already sent out numerous other genin and chunin teams to escort various and sundry people between Konoha and the border. Furthermore, Konohamaru was a decent fighter, and Ryuu had the hiraishin tattoo; if anything untoward happened out there, Naruto (and a herd of ANBU) would come running.

_Shut up, brain, and let me work,_ Shikamaru caustically thought to himself as he skimmed over more reports. Kami, was he was anxious for the intel Sasuke would hopefully bring home; because right now, he felt like he was a few pieces short of a shogi board.

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><p>Sasuke broke his modest camp while humming a tune. Without Sakura's constant teeth gnashing and cover stealing, he had actually slept quite well: although a part of him felt guilty about this. <em>I guess it's nice to have some space after ten years of marriage...<em> He languidly stretched his arms out to the side as he broke out a ration bar. Tsubasa, his hawk summons who had guarded over him as he slept, glided down from the treetops and perched on his shoulder. It had been a long time since he had seen Tsubasa's plumage, but from what he remembered, it was a lovely assortment of red feathers, while her underwings were colored white and striped with gray.

She cocked her head at him and then made a throaty noise. Sasuke chuckled and broke off a piece of his breakfast for her. "There you are, Tsubasa, thanks for all your work." The red tailed hawk grabbed the treat greedily, and then was gone in a puff of smoke. He idly brushed his shoulder after the bird disappeared, then picked up his small backpack and instrument case. _Time to hit the road._

He had not been traveling more than a few miles when he felt a group of people approaching. _S__hould I hide, or play it cool?_ Sending out discrete chakra tendrils, he noticed that none of the travelers had any chakra to speak of. He decided to stand his ground. _It might do well for my cover to join up with other travelers anyway, and perhaps I can gather some intel from them._

Of course, if Sasuke had been able to see their appearances as they approached— a kaleidoscope of patchwork clothing that screamed of rainbow ragamuffins— he probably would have concealed his presence and saved himself the trouble.

"Well hello, fellow wanderer!" shouted a voice from behind him. Sasuke mused, _Yes, these folks are _definitely_ not ninja. Has anyone ever told this lady it's not safe to talk to strangers?_ Apparently not, because he sensed that she was running to meet him.

"Oi, hello there!" the mysterious woman called again. "Oh goodness me, you're blind! And you're traveling alone!"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders. "Hello?"

"Oh my, how rude! My name is Kasumi, and behind me are Gorou and Haruki."

"Good morning!" one of the aforementioned men called.

"Hey there, I'm Haruki, it's nice to meet you!" The second man took Sasuke's hand in his and gave it a hearty shake.

Sasuke bowed politely. "I'm Sora. It's nice to meet you, too." Sasuke spared a thought for Naruto's daughter Sora, and hoped that she would not mind if he borrowed her unisex name.

Kasumi glanced at his instrument case and gushed, "Oh, Sora-san, it looks like you're a musician too! What luck! We were just on our way to Ame to play a gig ourselves— we're called the 'Traveling Stardust Experience', have you ever heard of us before?"

"Um...I don't think so..."

"Oh really? Because we're super famous!"

Gorou broke in at this point, "Kasumi-chan, don't be rude! Hey, Sora, where are you traveling to? We could walk together for a ways?"

Sasuke sighed and replied, "I was going to try my luck at one of the border towns. A fellow told me that Akash pays musicians very well for their time."

Silence.

"You—you're going to _Akash_? By yourself? Oh my, oh my! Don't you know there's been a werewolf stalking off with innocent people near that town?" Kasumi all but shrieked. _Huh._ _So Ryuu didn't make up the bit about werewolves...but what a _bizarre_ rumor. _Instead of voicing this thoughts, Sasuke cleared his throat and replied, "An old friend of mine said he'd meet up with me in Akash. I hadn't heard any of the rumors that you mention, but personally, I don't believe in werewolves."

Kasumi began to lecture him about werewolf safety in a motherly tone, as if she weren't half of Sasuke's age. Sasuke nodded politely but maintained that he couldn't keep his friend in Akash waiting, and while he really _did_ want to travel with them to Ame to see their so-called 'Traveling Stardust Experience,' he had appointments to keep. After much harraging, the trio decided to accompany the insane blind man to Akash, lest he be devoured by werewolves and his soul come back to haunt the hapless three. Kasumi was _particularly_ insistent that they couldn't leave the poor man to perish in the wilderness, and was convinced that the good karma points would protect them from any unholy creatures of the night as they traveled. Sasuke sighed, but agreed, convincing himself that it would only help his cover to travel with other musicians.

As they traveled, Sasuke learned many things from the overly friendly Kasumi, but unfortunately, nothing of consequence was revealed.

"So Sora, where do you hail from?"

Sasuke sighed convincingly. "I'm an orphan. My family was all killed in the wars when I was young, so I've spent the better part of my life as an itinerant musician." It was all true, more or less. One thing Sasuke had learned in his years of being a ninja was that it was beneficial to be as truthful as possible when going undercover— it increased one's credibility.

Kasumi gasped. "Oh, how horrible! You've been alone all these years— don't you have any sweethearts?"

Sasuke, posing as Sora, sighed dramatically again. "I have one. But she's tried to kill me multiple times..." Again, mostly true.

"Whoah, really? Whatever for?"

"Let's just say that she has an anger management problem. So...what about you, Kasumi?"

Sasuke had _meant_ the question to be taken as 'where do you hail from,' but Kasumi took it another way entirely. "Oh, Gorou, Haruki and I are all lovers."

Sasuke choked on his own spit. After he recovered, he mumbled something about how 'nice' that must be. _This must be what the hippies call 'free love.' How...outlandish. Peace time does weird freakin things to people. _Sasuke was experiencing quite the culture shock after leaving for the first time in over a decade.

As the sun set, Sasuke made camp with the hyper hippie girl and her laconic lovers.

"Sora-kun, would you like to play some music with us?"

Sasuke forced himself to smile. _So I'm Sora-_**_kun_**_ now. Sure doesn't take Kasumi a long time to make friends._ In truth, the _last_ thing he wanted to do was to play with these vagabonds, but it was vital for the sake of the mission, so...

"I'd be _delighted_, Kasumi-_chan_," he ground out.

And with that, the 'Traveling Stardust Experience' unpacked their instruments— a guitar, a flute, and one tambourine in the hands of Kasumi— and they started to 'jam.' Sasuke winced. He was more of a classical-jazz-folk-music-fusion kind of guy. He was not sure what to call the 'music' the trio was playing, except to classify it as 'extremely awful.' Sighing, he whipped out his mandola and strummed some mindless chords along with the 'band.' _Oh Kami, I hope we get to Akash soon..._

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><p><em>an have a great weekend everyone! And remember, **if you'd like to get a bonus chapter this week, then please review!** Much love!_


	13. Chapter 13: Consternation

Whoa guys. Whoa. **I just finished the rough draft to SoA.** Holy crap! Woot! Woot-y-woot! I couldn't have done it without all of your wonderful words of encouragement, friends! Thanks so much! *hands out cyber champagne and party blowers* I thought it was really beautiful to finish the draft to the song "Crystalline" by Bjork, from her new awesome album "Biophillia"; I thought it was really fitting, somehow:)

Here's a fun contest: **guess how long the rough draft is to this fic!** Submit your guess in either word count or page numbers via your review: **the reader who guesses the closest will win a one-shot, written by myself, especially for you and according to your every whim and fancy:)** That'll be fun:) You'll receive your gift of a one-shot by X-Mass, or as I like to call it, Chrismakwanzica (that's an amalgamation of X-Mass, Chanukah, and Kwanzaa, FYI:)

Special thanks to my amazing readers who never cease to amaze me with their lovely reviews:) Special thanks to my beta, **Uchiha.S**, who is the sunshine of my life. I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to **ThriceJinxed** who went back and reviewed ever single chapter just so that I would get off my lazy ass and give you all this bonus chapter, lol! Thanks Jinxy-chan! You rock!

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><p>Chapter 13<p>

**Consternation**

_Oh Kami, I hope we get to Ame soon_, Yuki thought longingly as she bedded down for the night. For some reason, Ryuu _insisted_ on sleeping near her bedroll, even though he _knew_ that his snoring had a detrimental effect on her sleep. Yuki decided that he'd done it in pure spite and malice, and resolved to drop unsavory characters like worms and frogs into his sleeping bag when he passed out. Cho had taken the first night's watch, and was currently gathering enough firewood for the long night ahead. With her body expansion jutsu, she could easily carry sufficient fuel. It was a handy jutsu; unlike Ryuu— who could only manage his father's trademark shadow clone jutsu— Cho actually had what Yuki liked to call 'skills.'

"Yo, Yuki-chan, are you asleep yet?"

Yuki snorted. She had long ago given up on having Ryuu drop the dreaded 'chan' addendum that he liked to stick after her name, but it still irked her. Not bothering to mask the exasperation in her voice, Yuki retorted, "Well, if I was sleeping, I _wouldn't_ be anymore."

"Oh. Sorry," he mumbled as he scrunched further down in his sleeping bag.

Since Yuki's eyes were still open and gazing at the stars overhead, she took the opportunity to roll them back in her head as far as they would go to show her annoyance, even if it was only for her own amusement. "Whatever. What's up, numbskull?"

"Not much asshole—Hey!"

Yuki retracted the arm that had just smacked her teammate and smirked. "Hn."

After that interaction, there was blessed silence; Yuki thought the idiot had gone to sleep, but a moment later she was proven wrong.

"Yuki-chan?"

"_What?" _

Ryuu sighed. "Nothing. Maybe I'll just go ask Cho instead..."

If nothing else, Yuki did not like being passed up in favor of someone else."You can ask me, ok? What do you want?"

"Nah. You probably wouldn't understand anyway," Ryuu muttered as he moved to get up.

Yuki liked to pretend that she understood _everything_, and was vaguely insulted by Ryuu's insinuation, and so she replied, "Come on. I graduated top of the class. I'm sure I can handle it."

Though the two had known each other their whole lives, they had never been much for conversation. For beating the heck out of each other, yes, but heart-to-heart talks? Not so much. At family gatherings, Ryuu was notorious for riling Yuki up about something or other— and Yuki was infamous for losing her iconic Uchiha cool and kicking his _ass_.

Indeed, holidays and special events almost inevitably ended with a full-out brawl between the eldest children of the Uzumaki and the Uchiha. Naruto often mused that Ryuu was just too much like his own father, with his fondness for ruffling the feathers of arrogant Uchiha members; to which Sasuke would have replied that Naruto was an _idiot_, and anyone with (proverbial) eyes in their head could see that Ryuu had a _crush _on Yuki: a crush which was in all likelihood returned. Violence was just the way ninja children at this age often showed affection, he would argue. Naruto would shake his head, and at this point in the festivities, would ask Sasuke to _please_ remove his rabid daughter from his son before she broke one of his arms...again.

Even since becoming teammates, their relationship had yet to evolve beyond ass-kicking and name-calling. Hence, Ryuu was a bit reticent in confiding in Yuki, but for some reason felt that the Uchiha really _would _understand, despite his protests.

He exhaled through his teeth, the low whistling sound punctuating the silence as he settled back onto his mat. "Ok. Well...do you ever feel like your parents like your other siblings better...?" Yuki chewed her lower lip; Ryuu took the silence as permission to continue and ventured, "Because...I don't know. Both of my sisters have the byakugan, but Kami seems to have overlooked me in the kekkei genkai department..." The boy trailed off uncertainly and fiddled with the zipper to his sleeping bag.

"But you're a _boy,_ Ryuu," she replied bitterly,"_And_ the firstborn. That alone means you're the heir."

Ryuu sighed at that. He put his arms behind his head as he gazed up at the sky. "Not really. I can't be the heir to the Hyuga clan if I don't have the ocular jutsu, and as far as the Uzumaki or Namikaze go...it's just my family, not much of a clan...so yeah."

"Well geez, Ryuu, thanks a lot," Yuki snapped.

"Ooops...sorry, guess you're in the same boat."

Yuki nodded and replied, "Hey, I'll fight tooth and nail to be the next heir to the Uchiha and Haruno houses. No matter how small they might be!"

Ryuu snorted. "I don't think you'd have to fight hard at all— you're the oldest. You're pretty much a shoe-in."

"That's what you think. I'm a _girl._ I think my dad has his hopes pegged on Takeo." She rolled over onto her stomach and propped her chin in her elbows before adding more softly, "Plus...I don't have a doujutsu, either."

"You don't have your doujutsu _yet._ The sharingan activates later in life; but the byakugan, you either have it or you _don't,"_ Ryuu concluded, his tone slightly acerbic.

"Hn. I doubt I'll even get it, Ryuu. The Uchiha used to inbreed in order to ensure their children would get the sharingan, but I'm only half—"

"You're over-thinking it, Yuki-chan," Ryuu broke in. "You're the best ninja of our age group, and even if you are a girl, I don't think most _guys_ stand a chance next to you."

It was silent for a moment, save for the chirping of the cicadas and crickets.

"Thanks Ryuu. I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Oi, I say lots of nice things Yuki-chan, you just never listen to me."

Yuki rolled her eyes again— her own private joke with herself— and stated, "Well, I guess I never knew how much we had in common. You know, besides me being brilliant and everything, and you being at the bottom of our class."

"Oi! Come on!"

"Sorry. Just kidding." _Kinda..._ But Yuki could tell she had hit a sore spot, as Ryuu was silent and had rolled away from her in his sleeping bag.

"Ryuu?"

"Hmmm."

"Come on. I think your parents like you just fine for who you are. You're a kind person who always has nice things to say. And you're goofy, you make people laugh."

"Great. I'm goofy."

"Gah, I was _trying_ to give you a compliment."

"Well. Good job." Ryuu pulled his sleeping bag up over his head.

Yuki bit her lower lip again and thought about what to say to dig herself out of the hole she had just made for herself. _Open mouth, insert foot, as they say. Damn, for a girl I'm really not good at these things._ "Hey, Ryuu?"

"**_What?_**_" _he snapped waspishly.

_My how the tables have turned, _Yuki thought ruefully_._ She cleared her throat and ventured, "I think you should stop worrying about whether your parents love you or not, because it's obvious that they do. Nobody has parents that are as mushy gushy as yours. If you're worried about being a good ninja, you should just train more. That's all."

Ryuu uncovered his head and rolled back over to face Yuki. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. The one thing you have never lacked is enthusiasm. If you keep putting your all into it, you'll be a great ninja one day. So stop being such a girl about everything."

Ryuu snorted. "Easy for you to say!"

"WHAT!"

Yuki was about to punch Ryuu's lights out for calling her a non-girl-like-entity, but Konohamaru called from the other side of the fire pit, "Trolls. Shut. Up. And go to sleep. Unless I need to use genjutsu?"

"No sensei!"

"Goodnight sensei!"

Ryuu giggled slightly and flicked Yuki's arm. "Goodnight asshole."

"Goodnight moron," she hissed; she was _definitely_ going to put a nice, juicy worm on Ryuu's face tonight when he started snoring.

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Sora-kun!"<p>

"Hmmm...Kasumi...good morning."

"Everyone is awake and breakfast is almost done— if you get up now, we'll share our porridge with you."

_Now this is just embarrassing. I'm a fucking ninja and I out-slept the flakey hippies. Gah._ Schooling his face to be neutral, he replied, "Sure. Thanks. I'll be there in a minute."

After an uneventful breakfast of bland rice mush, the four made their way south. Even at the slothful pace they were setting, Sasuke estimated that they would reach their destination by the end of the day. Unfortunately, he couldn't read his chakra-enhanced map, lest he blow his cover, but he was confident that his mind remembered the way. Thankfully, his traveling companions were conversing amongst themselves— something about how they should make some charms out of crystals and garlic to ward off werewolves— and they did not notice that they were being tailed by his summons, Tsubasa, who was keeping watch over their party. Not that the others would have noticed anyway: they didn't seem to be the brightest crayons in the box.

After a pleasant few hours of silence, Haruki approached him.

"Hey!"

"Hey," was Sasuke's lackluster reply.

The two men walked side by side together in silence for a while. Finally, Haruki cleared his throat. "So...me and the gang were thinking...if you want, you could totally join our band. It would be far out."

_I'd rather cut off my own ears with a rusty kunai._ Instead, Sasuke forced himself to answer politely, "I'm afraid I'm a bit of a free agent myself when it comes to playing music."

"Well, that's ok. You just think about it, man. But...um..." Haruki trailed off. The pair walked in awkward silence for a while longer before Kasumi swooped in to rescue her lover.

"What Haruki is trying to say is, if you wanted to join us, I mean, join _join _us, that would be radical."

Sasuke scratched his head. "I'm more of a solo musician..." he repeated.

"Um...not exactly...I mean...how to phrase it... Sora-kun would you like to join our love circle?"

Sasuke choked on his own spit—something that seemed to happen with increasing regularity the more time he spent with these freaks. He coughed loudly for a few moments, then finally managed, "Um. I'm really, _really_, very flattered...but um...remember that girlfriend I told you about? With the anger management problem?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Well...she's the jealous type. I couldn't vouch for your safety if I joined your...er...love circle. But I'm extremely flattered—"

"Hey, if your girlfriend ever wanted to join, she'd be welcome too, man. The Traveling Stardust Experience is all about free love. So the offer is out there, if you ever feel called to join, you just let us know."

Sasuke visibly paled. "Um...thanks...a lot..."

Someone put a hand on his ass.

"But...um..._no_ thank you."

Said hand was removed. Sasuke didn't bother using chakra to locate the culprit. _It's really better that I don't know who that was... _

* * *

><p><em>.:8:.<br>_

_The End of Part One_

_.:8:.  
><em>

_Today I roamed with the lady of the mountain,_

_Trying to find something my soul to sleep,_

_In the thickets of wildflowers, wandering_

_By the rush of the cold spring creek._

_She said to me, "Sure as the wheeling of the stars_

_Death is the final song ringing on a poor man's guitar;_

_Sure as the coming of winter and spring_

_Is the song of a sad life we all must sing."_

_Said I, "Surely, there is more than death_

_That encapsulates the mystery of life itself_

_For all the wheeling of the stars_

_You are merely taking things as they are."_

_Said she, taking herbs in her hand,_

_Mullien, Lambs-Wool, and Lilly-Of-The-Land,_

"_What can we speak that has not been said?_

_What can live that has not been dead?_

_What new thing can come, under the sun_

_When everything that ever was has already been done?"_

_This she said with a gentle sigh_

_As she picked Cats-Claw, Valerian and Wild Rye._

_Said I, "Though the sun's movements do often repeat_

_And the stars rise, whirl, move apart and meet_

_Though my dreams are dark and full of fear_

_And my feet drag heavily as we finish each year."_

_Though death surrounds us like a veil_

_The sound of the wolf's moon lit wail_

_As you saved my body from blood, boiling like a fountain_

_I'd bear it all over again to be with the lady of the mountain."_

_Said she, smiling coyly as she plucked from the vine,_

_Passionflower fruits, then sprigs of Blue Vervain,_

"_Were it as bitter as the medicine from purpled Gentian,_

_Would you bear it all once more just to be with me on the mountain?"_

_Said I, "Bitterness a hundred times over and more,_

_Walking through the threshold of death's dark door_

_With no fear of the horrors that they contain_

_Just to walk in stride with the lady of the mountain."_

_She paused a while, lost in thought,_

_Gathering a bouquet of Forget-Me-Nots,_

_And while her questions she refrained to pose_

_I picked and proffered to her a red wild rose,_

_Saying, "Let us speak no more of death and beyond_

_The fate that is the final chord in life's short song;_

_Instead let us give thanks, and endeavor_

_To enjoy what little time we have together."_

_Said she, blushing the hue of the flower,_

"_When did you become so clever?"_

_And laughing like the ringing of a bell and free_

_She threw her little arms all around me._

**~The Second Book of Akash**

* * *

><p><strong>an **Lol, I know, it's confusing, why does the poetry from the 2nd book of Akash go with part one? Cause I like things to be back-asswards, that's why:)

**Buddha says: reviews for Song Of Aether bring faster updates... and happiness into the world:)  
><strong>


	14. Chapter 14: Snake in the Grass

a/n hey everyone! Welcome to the very last installment of SoA before I kick some NaNoWriMo butt this coming November! I spent my whole Friday night making my outline (which is pretty complete, despite the fact that I haven't quite settled on an ending yet) and character sketches...

Well, I guess the truth is out, I am a total nerd. But nerds are the new cool, IMHO! *Nervous laughter ensues*

Anyway, special thanks to **Uchiha.S,** my beta and my inspiration, and to all my wonderful readers and reviewers; your feedback + love give me the strength to go on! *Dramatic sigh*

Last note + manga spoiler: Omg, omg, Uchiha Madara is so fucking hot! Omg, omg! I abdicate Itachi fangirl-dom and have totally joined the club for the undead and BAMF Madara-kun! *swoons*

BTW, speaking of the manga, **I will try my best to stay canon**, but I'll just have to see where this crazy manga goes! Will keep you posted on that as we go:)

Ok all you lovely people! Enojoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter 14<p>

**Snake in the Grass**

"_I was left for dead on the battlefield,_

_After the first, so called, great war;_

_My lifeblood pooling in the earth,_

_My eyes broken and dark."_

~The First Book of Akash, Verse I

After an uneventful day of traveling, Team Five was only about half a day's journey from Ame. Their withdrawn client seemed weary, so they set up camp early that day. It was Yuki's turn to take first watch, and as she looked up at the stars from her place on a smooth boulder, she wondered about many things. Was Saki being a general pain in the ass, as always? Was her mother having trouble sleeping, and thus binging on ice cream? Was Takeo crying a lot in her father's absence, or was he satisfied with being baby-sat by Hinata-sama? Was her father mucking up his first mission in over a decade? _Sheesh, they would have a field day if they all knew I was worrying about them..._Yuki thought sardonically.

Suddenly, her brooding was interrupted as something wet and slippery slithered down her back—

Yuki screamed and wiggled like a person possessed by a demon. The creature in her shirt seemed just as frightened, and its terrified wiggles only increased. But when Yuki heard the muffled, delighted chuckle coming from behind a bush, Yuki finally put two and two together.

"RYUU! DAMN IT, I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU!" the Uchiha spat, her face red and her eyes livid.

"Says the girl who dropped a salamander into my open mouth last night," Ryuu retorted between giggles as he emerged from his hiding place.

"You were snoring!" Yuki accused, as she wiggled the garden snake out of the back of her shirt. The poor thing was scared shitless, and hurriedly slithered away once the kunoichi set him down in the grass.

"You could have killed me! If I had swallowed it, I would have died— don't they have some kind of poison on their skin or something?" Ryuu pouted.

"Well then, it's a good thing I dropped a tree frog into your mouth last night, and _not_ a salamander, isn't it?"

Ryuu made a disgusted face. "Ok, whatever, now we're _even_. And it's my turn for watch."

Yuki raised an eyebrow: Ryuu's shift didn't start for another hour at least. "What, couldn't sleep?"

"Nah. I have a weird feeling about something," Ryuu muttered, running a hand through his messy blond hair.

Yuki taunted, "Scared of werewolves again?"

"Ok, I totally heard something _howling..._" Ryuu protested, placing his hands on his hips.

Yuki rolled her eyes. "That would have been an actual _wolf_..."

"Famous last words," Ryuu groused as he moved to take her spot. "Go get some sleep, _non-believer_. And if you get eaten by a werewolf, don't come crying to me."

"Later, loser." She punched him in the arm— hard— before leaving.

"Blarg! Jerk," Ryuu called back as he made himself comfortable on the stone and took his turn gazing up at the constellations.

* * *

><p>"Sora-kun, let's go busk in the central square!" Kasumi all but squealed, her fear of werewolves dissipating now that they had reached Akash, and it looked like every other normal town in existence: the kind that typically did not have monsters, vampires, wolf people, or anything else out of the ordinary.<p>

"Sure. That would be _great_," Sasuke forced himself to say.

They made their way to the square, and he strummed along to some terrible song about love, flowers, and rainbows. A few passersby flicked loose change into their open guitar case.

"Wow, Sora-kun, you were totally right about this place! We've already got a handful of change!" Kasumi gushed.

"That's _great,_" Sasuke ground out, trying to sound enthusiastic. _I've got to get out of the clutches of the dirty hippies, and into a place where I can gather actual intel. Kami help me. I have a feeling I'm only going to learn bad lyrics if I hang out with these characters any longer... _

"Hey guys," Sasuke intoned as sweetly as he could, "Can you point me in the direction of the local bar? I'm feeling terribly overheated in the noon-day sun..."

"Oh Sora-kun, we'll go with you!" the tambourine lady cooed. Either Gorou or Haruki (Sasuke really had trouble telling them apart) echoed, "Let's all go together!"

"That's all right, I'll get something cool to drink and then meet back up with you guys here. I wouldn't want to interrupt your music..." Sasuke used the term 'music' loosely here.

Unfortunately for him, Kasumi _insisted _that everyone go together, and Sasuke was all but dragged to the bar while she droned on and on about good karma points, and how that would protect them all from the theoretical werewolves. Someone brushed his ass again and Sasuke resisted the urge to disembowel the owner of said hand; it seemed that he had inadvertently picked up a bunch of 'admirers' when he started traveling with the 'Stardust Experience.' _Sakura is going to burst a gut when she hears about how I was repeatedly molested by dirty hippies..._

The four sat down at a greasy table. A barmaid came over and made a face at them. "Do you four have the money to pay for your repast today?" she asked rather impolitely.

Sasuke replied in the tone of a prince addressing a commoner, "Of course. We're famous musicians, after all. Haven't you ever heard of the 'Stardust Experience?'" He handed the waitress a solid gold coin.

Kasumi coughed politely before correcting him, "Er, the '_Traveling_ Stardust Experience' actually. Sora here is our newest member!" Kasumi, ecstatic that Sasuke had just included himself in their band, beamed up at the serving girl, who did not seem interested in anything other than the gold coin she had just received.

Sasuke mumbled, "Just bring us a pitcher of beer and something decent to eat." Kasumi coughed again, and Sasuke added, in an undertone, "_Please."_

The serving girl bit down on the coin. Satisfied that it wasn't a fake, she smiled sycophantically, bowed to the patrons, and spun around to fulfill Sasuke's command.

"Whoah, Sora-kun, I didn't know you were rich!" Kasumi jabbered.

Sasuke waved evasively before muttering, "It's just some of the money I made playing music."

"Come to think of it, we haven't heard you play any of your own songs..." Haruki droned.

Kasumi all but grabbed his instrument and thrust it into his hands. "Won't you play us a little something while we wait for our lunch! Please Sora-kuuuuun!"

Sasuke sighed. _I hate my life..._ He thought for a minute about what to play; he didn't want to sound too good, but he also wanted to show his traveling companions what real music actually sounded like. In the end, as he tinkered with the proper tuning on the mandola, he settled on an old fiddle tune that he had learned in a village near the Ame border. It was a simple melody, but Sasuke played it double time just because he was in the mood, and the lilting, playful song became a welcome distraction from the sunshine and rainbows crap he had been playing along to for the past day and a half.

When he finished, there was a round of loud applause from all around the tavern. The serving girl came back with the pitcher of beer and looked at Sasuke in a whole new light. "Hey, you guys _are_ really good. You know, my boss just told me our act canceled for tonight— you guys want to play?"

Sasuke was about to drone out a negatory, but the sound of his voice was drowned out by Kasumi, who began babbling something incoherent about fate and good karma and _of course they would be delighted to play tonight, oh my goodness oh my goodness!_ Sasuke ground his teeth together.

_Seems like I'm destined to be glued to these guys for a little while longer_...Sasuke resisted the urge to hit himself again and gulped down his lukewarm beer. _Kami help me..._

* * *

><p>Yuki yawned and threw an arm over her eyes to block out the morning sun. <em>Stupid morning...stupid sun...<em> Yuki had hardly gotten a wink of sleep last night. For some reason, she had felt wound up, and by the time she actually did manage to fall asleep, Ryuu had returned from guard duty and had kept her up with his abominable snoring. _Maybe I'll find a tarantula and put in inside of Ryuu's pack today. It would serve him right!_

She packed up her things quickly and was enjoying her morning tea while the rest of her teammates finished their own preparations. Despite being dead tired, she was not about to relinquish her title of ever-the-first-one-to-be-packed-and-ready-to-go.

"Oi, sensei, there's a giant spider in my pack!" Ryuu squealed; Yuki thought with certain amount of smugness that his squeal sounded very _girly._

"Ryuu, you're a ninja. I'm sure you can handle a giant spider," Konohamaru replied evenly, not bothering to look up from the pack he was currently stuffing his tent into.

"Dude. I don't know sensei, that's one big ass spider," Cho muttered, inspecting the arachnid from a safe distance.

Yuki silently sipped her tea, her face a mask of perfect equanimity. "Cho. Language," Yuki murmured.

Ryuu spun around and pointed at Yuki accusingly. "YOU! YOU DID THIS!" he bellowed.

Yuki blinked. "Whatever are you talking about, Ryuu-_chan_?"

Konohamaru rolled his eyes and sent a thin tendril of wind chakra our towards the hairy spider, who was poking its huge head out of Ryuu's bag. The poor thing was blown away, but just as it was about to be smooshed by an incoming tree, Konohamaru altered the flow of the wind and instead gently deposited the creature on a leaf. The tarantula trembled for a moment, and then just as quickly scurried off to find a hiding spot away from the crazy ninja.

"Anyone want tea?" Yuki asked blithely, "It's chai."

After Konohamaru restrained Ryuu from committing acts of violence against his tea-welding teammate, the group set out again for the Ame border. Ryuu, still pissed as fuck, put the client between himself and his so-called teammate, Yuki. As the petulant boy went to shoot an angry look at the infuriating kunoichi, he noticed that the old man in between them seemed especially sorrowful about something. While Gomakashi had been a tight-lipped traveling companion thus far, Ryuu realized that the man hadn't even wished anyone a 'hello' or 'good morning' yet, which was out of character for the polite elderly man. Ryuu cleared his throat and ventured, "Oi, gramps, everything ok?"

Gomakashi was startled out of his thoughts and regarded Ryuu with a misty eye. "Ah...not much son. I was just thinking about my granddaughter..."

"Oh. Do you miss her?"

The old man smiled wistfully and nodded. "She...disappeared. On the border, somewhere around here. I was just thinking of her..."

Ryuu frowned and replied, "That's horrible!" Ryuu paused for a moment, searching for something appropriate to say; he finally whispered, "I'm so sorry..."

Gomakashi patted Ryuu on the shoulder. "No worries now, dear. I'm sure...she'll turn up soon."

Ryuu swallowed audibly, but was at a loss of what to say next. And so they walked on in silence for some time.

Just then, there was a rustling in the underbrush— Konohamaru jumped in front of their client; his students followed suit and fanned out around the old man in a defensive position.

"Who's there— show yourselves!" Konohamaru barked.

The old man sighed, and while their attention was drawn elsewhere, Gomakashi withdrew a kunai and stabbed Konohamaru square in the back.

"What the—" Konahamaru sputtered; he clutched at his chest and landed heavily on his knees.

"Sensei!" Cho bawled.

Ryuu looked back and forth between the old man and his collapsed sensei in mute horror.

Yuki, who seemingly was the only one who had her wits about her, quickly disarmed the old man, held his arms behind his back, and hissed, "One false move and I _will_ kill you."

The old man looked at her apologetically. He called, softly, "I'm sorry, young one." Then he shouted, "Yajirushi_, _I've done as you've asked. Give me back my granddaughter, as you've promised."

Just then, an arrow flew out of the shadows and impaled the old man in the chest. Gomakashi's body stiffened with surprise, his eyes wide and watering. "You!" he coughed, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, "You bastards...Ushinawa, forgive me...I'm so sorry..." Gomakashi sank to the ground and shuddered as his blood pooled around him.

Yuki blinked. There were many things she could have said in that instant, but all that came out of her mouth was a startled, "Oh, _fuck_."

* * *

><p>The 'Traveling Stardust Experience' was just setting up their instruments for that evening's 'concert'— Sasuke liked to refer to it as 'musical torture' in the confines of his own mind— when Sasuke finally, <em>finally<em> overheard something of value.

"Oi, did you hear?" a man in the back corner of the tavern whispered to his drinking companion.

"Yeah. One of the Hill people was here earlier, that beauty called Aya...said she was on her way to the Ame border," the other replied just as softly.

The other man whistled lowly; Sasuke tried to look engrossed in tuning his instrument, when in fact he was enhancing his ears with chakra and straining to catch every word the two men said. He thanked Kami for his acute ninja hearing: Sasuke had noticed that most people in the bar had a healthy distrust of the strangers, and were keeping their voices low.

"It's a real shame. Seems like that psychopath who tried to abduct more of the Hill folk got away. They're sending some of their elite guard out to catch the guy, including Aya-chan..." Here he sighed.

"I hope they catch that bastard." The other man took a swig of beer. "I wonder if he's hoping to escape into Ame?" he murmured.

"The psycho-killer? Hmm, Aya mentioned he was targeting someone. Someone famous I think, a young girl from Konoha. I can't remember her name, but I think she's one of the Uchiha brats."

His companion shuddered. "I've heard stories about that Sasuke fellow. I wouldn't like to meet him in battle. I wonder why the crazy guy would target her..."

Sasuke nearly dropped his instrument.

_Oh. My. FUCK. _

"Almost ready to go on, Sora-kun?" Kasumi called sweetly from the stage.

"Just. A. Minute," he ground out. Sasuke had promised himself that he wasn't going to do what he was about to do, but at the moment, he didn't give a flying fuck. _Yuki...those bastards better not touch a hair on her head._

Quickly, he unleashed a barrage of chakra-enhanced sound from his instrument as fast as he could— the merry scene in the bar slowed; suddenly, the inhabitants of the tavern stilled, until they all passed out where they were, falling fast asleep in awkward positions. As soon as the genjutsu was in place, his mandola lay forgotten on the floor. Sasuke stalked over to the men whom he had been eavesdropping on a moment before. He shook them awake quite violently.

"Where. Did. She. Go?" he managed between clenched teeth.

The men were clearly startled out of their wits— "W-who?"

"This woman, Aya— exactly _where_ did she say she was going?"

One of them waved defensively and sputtered, "I don't know! She just said the Ame boarder—That's all!"

Sasuke hissed, "If you value your lives, you _will_ tell me more." He really had no intention of killing the two before him, but they didn't need to know that right now.

"Ack! By the low rolling hills, on the eastern side I think! Still in the Fire Country— I swear, that's all I know! Why do you want to know? You— you aren't in league with the serial killer? Or are you?" The man gave Sasuke a petrified look.

Sasuke hummed a tune under his breath: in a moment, the men were asleep again and would not remember their little conversation when they awoke.

After they had passed out, Sasuke balled his fists in consternation. "Gods, I'm _not_ a serial killer! I'm Yuki's father, damn it all!" Sasuke swore as he pumped chakra into his hiraishin tattoo. _I'm not a fucking serial killer,_ he reiterated in his head. _Come on Naruto, you'd better get here quick..._

* * *

><p>"Hmmm... Naruto-kun, you're home early..." Hinata murmured as Naruto kissed the nape of her neck.<p>

"Well, I thought Sora-chan and Takeo-chan could take a little evening nap while we...hung out. You know, since Ryuu is off on a mission, and the Hoshiko and Saki went off to get pizza with their friends."

"What? They went to get pizza?"

"Hmmm. I gave them fistfuls of money and told them to not come back until...later..." Much, much later in fact.

"Naruto! We're supposed to be babysitting until Sakura finishes up the night shift! I was going to make a nutritionally-sound dinner!" Hinata glared at him sternly.

"Aw, come on, the girls are old enough to go out for pizza with their pals, right?" he answered slyly as he put a hand on her belly. "And besides..."

Hinata giggled, "Naruto-kun! Don't tell me you want to...?"

"Umm, maybe? This is the fertile part of your cycle, right?"

Hinata bit down on her index finger. She had had problems with her fertility in the past, and in fact had miscarried twice before finally conceiving Sora. Ever since Sora's birth, she hadn't had any problems with miscarriages, but she hadn't conceived either, and not for lack of trying. "Naruto-kun..."

Naruto laughed then, softly. "Hey, it's ok. You don't have to feel pressured or nervous. Let's just give it a try, ok?"

Hinata forced herself to smile but subconsciously bit her lower lip. "Um...ok..."

Just as they had started embracing, Naruto felt a familiar, nagging chakra on his arm. "Oh lord, now of all times!"

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked a bit breathlessly.

Naruto closed his eyes in concentration for a moment. "It's Sasuke." He sighed. _Damn it. _

Hinata looked up at her husband in alarm. "You should go, it's probably important."

"Yeah, but _this_ is important too..." Naruto trailed off, his eyes hungrily tracing the lines of his wife's lips: but the signal in his arm was becoming more urgent.

Hinata rolled her eyes. "I'll still be here when you get back. Don't take too long, ok?"

Naruto sighed again, and with much regret he kissed his wife, this time more chastely than before. "Love you. I'll be back in a flash! And then we can begin where we left off." He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

Hinata giggled. "Ok. Love you."

The chakra on his arm was becoming even more intense. _Sheesh, Sasuke, chill the heck out._ He spared Hinata a smile and then was gone in a tell-tale flash.

Hinata sighed and whispered aloud, "I hope everyone is ok..." She placed a hand over her belly, rubbing it absently and sighing. The house was quiet, and the descending darkness of twilight seemed to hang more heavily around her.

* * *

><p><em>an thanks for reading all! I'll be back in about a month, hopefully with a successful NaNoWriMo novel in hand!_

remember: you have a whole month to enter the "How Damn Long is This Fic, Wings?" contest! **Simply enter your guess about how long the rough draft to SoA is**** via your review****! Enter your guess in page-number or word-count form. The reviewer who is closest will win a one-shot, written by yours truly according to your every whim and fancy, and will be delivered in time for X-Mass/Hanukah/Kwanza, or as I like to call it, Crismakwanzikah.**

Your reviews brighten my day- why not send one now to your beloved fanfic writer via the blue button below? Xoxoxo!


	15. Chapter 15: Yajirushi of the Arrows

_a/n: First up, I missed you all immensely on my NaNoWriMo workcation. Guess what? With a 74,888 word count... I WIN! __ And though I wrote about 300 pages of my new novel...it is probably only a little over half-way done. Ack. I'm going to need to take a break from that beast for a while...enter my fanfic:) I MISSED THIS STORY! AND I MISSED YOU, TOO!_

_As for the results of my "Guess this fic's insane page count," I'm pleased to announce the winners. Yes, winners in the plural, because there were two very close contestants, one who guessed in page numbers, and one who guessed in word count. I figured they both deserved a prize. So here they are:_

_Tukiko Kinikia- guess: _200,000 words

_xFlawed Imperfectionx- guess: 300 pages_

_Actual page length and word count: 192,555 words/371 pages (that's unedited...Kami help me, it will become more concise as I edit:)_

_Lol, Tukiko was the only one who overshot the length of this fic, but darn, she was close enough. Well, you two have just won your very own one-shots! LOL! As for the rest of ya...hope you like your fics long *eeeeep!*_

_Special thanks to my beta, __**Uchiha.S**__, for her references to erections and zombie kitties peppered throughout her edits. I almost pissed my pants from laughing so hard; who knew editing could be so fun?_

_Thank you all for your patience and well wishing this past month! And now, without further ado...  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter 15<p>

Yajirushi of the Arrows

"_She came striding through the carnage_

_Like an angel draped in black;_

_When she saw my labored breathing_

_She carried me on her back."_

The First Book of Akash, Verse II

Yuki quickly shook herself out of her stupor. "Cho! Ryuu! Get Sensei and the old man out of here— Cho needs to heal them!"

Cho, the team medic, was shaking. "Fuck! The old man— he stabbed our sensei!" She was still in shock and couldn't move; she looked between Konohamaru and their client, both coughing up blood in their efforts to breathe.

Yuki glared at the rotund ninja, as if she could will Cho into action with the force of her eyes. "Cho! For fuck's sake, get a hold of yourself! Take them and GO!"

Ryuu smacked himself in the face—Yuki assumed it was to sober himself out of his shock— and then he shouted, "Ok!" He ran over to Konohamaru and carried him bridal style, so as not to jostle his injury. But despite his gentle handling, their sensei groaned and began coughing even more violently; Ryuu winced at the new blood that trickled down Konohamaru's chin.

Yuki's calculating brain surmised that it was likely Konohamaru had punctured a lung. After all, Yuki had been trained by her mother in the basics of medical diagnostics—and Yuki was rarely wrong about _anything_. Nevertheless, she forced herself to remain apathetic; emotions had no place on the battlefield and would only make her weak.

Meanwhile, Cho had finally regained her senses after watching Ryuu jump into action. She took the shaking old man in her large arms and nodded to her teammate.

"Let's go, Ryuu-kun!" she whispered, her voice uncharacteristically faint.

Yuki placed herself in front of her teammates, giving them cover as they retreated into the forest; she bit her thumb before slamming it to the ground in her summoning jutsu.

Tama appeared in a poof of smoke and eyed her curiously. "Mistress?" the cat murmured, sensing the disturbing chakra signatures in the glade.

"Tama—" Yuki began, but she had no time to explain their situation, because suddenly, they were under attack. Another arrow zoomed towards Tama, who was not yet prepared to defend herself. With a growl, Yuki leapt forward and deflected the incoming projectile with a kunai. The metal arrow head made a loud, clanging sound upon impact, and Yuki was violently thrown back to the ground from the force of the arrow. _That's some powerful bow he has, _Yuki thought darkly, her mind calculating how best to shield themselves from future attacks. That last move had made her wrist sore from the power of the impact, and was not a defense that she could repeat often without undo strain. Her eyes scanned the forest, waiting for the next attack, while she tightened her wrist guards.

She needn't have been so wary. Instead of another attack, a figure emerged from the dark shadows of the jungle-like foliage with slow, deliberate movements. As he strode into the sunlight, he started clapping; the sound reverberated through the woods and startled birds in the distance, their fearful squawks echoing along with the man's applause. _Is he mocking me?_ Yuki thought, her cheeks flushing with rage. Yuki did not tolerate ridicule.

"Listen asshole..." she ground out, her voice low and rumbling like thunder, "I don't know what the fuck you're doing here, but if you don't leave _now_, I'm going to _fucking_ kill you." If anger could be a tangible, visible entity, Yuki's skin would have literally been seething fire.

The man, whose form was still obscured by the shadows, bowed in mock-politeness. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Yuki-chan. My name is Yajirushi. I've been sent here today to kill you, and to take your eyes, incidentally."

Yuki clenched her teeth, then hissed, "I'm flattered. But if it's me you came for, you should have left the others out of it!"

Yajirushi merely shrugged. "Orders are orders. Take a look at the sky now dearest, because it's bound to be your last view of it."

Tama growled low in her throat. Yuki sprang onto the cat's back and readied her collection of poisoned kunai: she had a feeling that it would be a mistake to hold back against this guy. She was right— suddenly, he let loose a volley of arrows, which Tama neatly dodged as Yuki played her counter attack. And while none of Yajirushi's arrows found purchase, neither did the kunoichi's kunai. _This guy is going easy on me— he's feeling me out, _Yuki mused, her body tense.

"Very good Yuki-chan, but that was only twenty arrows at once. Let's see how well you do against fifty." Yuki snarled— she had been hoping to gain some ground on this guy, but it seemed like he was a long range fighter. _Fine, two can play at this game..._ "Tama! Quick! Hide behind that oak tree!" Yuki was thankful for Tama's speed, as the were nearly hit by a few of the projectiles, until they came to rest behind the shield of one large, gnarled tree. "Tama! Listen! I'm going to go at that guy with some clones to figure out his abilities— shrink yourself as small as you possibly can, and then let's sneak up behind this bastard."

"Got it!" Tama grinned and decreased her volume to the size of a small mouse. Yuki made a few clones and rapidly sent out all the versions of herself while she herself veered right to hang back behind a bush.

She was glad she did so, for in a moment the tree was shattered from an assault. _Great, this whack-job can shred a huge tree with a few of his freak arrows..._ Yuki thought dryly as she signaled to her clones: one, two, three—

Yajirushi called out, his voice free of any inflection,"Now Yuki-chan, unfortunately for you, I can shoot arrows in multiple directions at once, but to be sporting, I'll only shoot a volley of fifty. Here goes!" This time, the arrows zoomed even faster than they had before— all of Yuki's clones were promptly taken out, and the real Yuki was left facing twenty arrows. _Shit! I can't dodge them all in time!_

Just then, Ryuu and half a dozen shadow clones burst out of the underbrush and deflected the incoming arrows with kunai: the force of the impacts dispelled all of Ryuu's clones, while Ryuu himself was pushed back several feet, but was otherwise unharmed. Yuki, feeling slightly woozy, rose and nodded to her companion. "Thanks." The ninja forced chakra into their legs and bounded out of the way and behind a large boulder. _Why am I feeling sick? I didn't even get hit!_ Shaking her head, Yuki whispered, "How are they?"

Ryuu grimaced. "Cho is doing the best she can, but it looks like the old man is beyond help— that guy uses barbed arrows laced with poison, and she doesn't have the antidote."

Yuki nodded. _Good thing we didn't get hit by those arrows then._ "What about sensei?"

Ryuu shook his head. "That kunai was poisoned, too."

"Just our luck," Yuki spat. "You'd better use that hiraishin tattoo of yours and call your dad. This was obviously a trap."

Ryuu made a face, but Yuki cut in, "Don't give me any of your _But I've got my ninja pride!_ crap. If we don't get back up, we're all going to die."

He gulped at her bleak reply and nodded, bringing his hand up to the tattoo on his shoulder and activating it with chakra.

Suddenly, his face went white.

"Yuki-chan..."

"What!" she barked with annoyance. She had asked for one simple thing...

"It's...it's not working!" Ryuu whispered, his voice barely audible.

Yuki's fingers started tingling— she grabbed the pale ninja and yanked him out of the way. Just in time, for the boulder that had been shielding them was shattered into a million fragments, courtesy of a cascade of weapons.

"Well then," Yuki replied, feigning composure, "we're going to have to take this guy out ourselves."

Ryuu nodded and, with shaking limbs, formed a series of handsigns— "Shadow clone no jutsu!"

Yuki whispered, "I'm forming a counter attack with Tama. You cover for me, and I'll try and get this fucking douche bag from behind."

Ryuu smiled at that. "I love it when you curse."

Yuki's eye twitched; she refrained from braining the idiot and spat, "Just go!"

"Ok!"

With a roar, about a hundred of Ryuu's clones turned to face the opponent, while Yuki flitted like a shadow, closer and closer towards the enemy.

* * *

><p>"What do you <em>mean<em> your hiraishin isn't working!" Sasuke snarled.

Naruto grimaced but replied, as he ran alongside Sasuke, "Someone must be jamming the signal."

"The fuck!" he roared. "You can jam the fucking signal? What the—"

"Sasuke, calm down." Naruto jumped out of the way of an errant branch as he rushed through the jungle-like growth of the damp forest. "I've got about two-hundred shadow clones combing the border for them, in addition to the fleet of hawks you summoned. The best we can do is locate them as quickly as possible—they couldn't have gone far from the route I gave them for their mission."

The Uchiha took a deep breath. "Should we send for back-up?"

Naruto shook his head. "I already sent one of my clones back to the village to put it on high alert. If we need back-up, I can easily send another clone, but this could all be a distraction, a ruse. I don't want to weaken the village's defenses if it might be under attack in a matter of hours from our unknown enemy."

"How very Hokage-like of you," he snapped waspishly.

Naruto snorted and replied, "Besides, if the Hokage and Uchiha Sasuke can't take out a few criminals, people will start talking smack behind our backs."

Sasuke bit off a hang nail in a fit of anxiety and funneled more chakra into his feet. "Well, better get going then," he called, swallowing back the bile rising in his throat.

_Yuki_—_ where the fuck are you?_

* * *

><p>"Okaasan?"<p>

"Yes dear..."

"Is otousan ok?"

Sakura smiled weakly at her youngest daughter. "It was nice of you to come visit me in the hospital," she replied in a demulcent tone.

Saki placed her hands on her hips. "You're avoiding the question. Hoshiko and I talked to some cats, and they said the village was under high alert. What's going on?"

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut. Her brat had become quite the espionage expert. "I'm not sure. But otousan and Hokage-sama are checking it out...I'm sure it will be fine!" Sakura said, smiling with false brightness. "Why don't you go back to Hinata's and help her with Sora and Takeo? It looks like my shift is going to go into overtime tonight..." Sakura was preparing for the worst, and was readying the hospital to handle a large number of casualties, just in case. It felt strange, to prepare for a possible war after enjoying peacetime for so long. Sakura supposed that she had gone soft.

Saki sniffled as Sakura ignored her in favor of a set of scalpels. "Ugh. You sure I can't help you here in the hospital?"

Sakura sighed, "It would be more helpful if you could help Hinata-chan."

"Fine." Saki sulked away.

Sakura sighed again as she finished sterilizing her surgical instruments; some help was help, and some help was the kind of help you could do without, and Saki tended to wind up in the latter category.

Hoshiko was waiting for Saki by the hospital entrance. "So, did you learn anything?"

"Nah, my mom is as tight-lipped as ever." Saki sighed theatrically, but then ventured, "So. Onto Plan B."

Hoshiko nodded. "Let's go ask the stray kitties by the Hokage's tower!" Hoshiko was still wearing her feline communication unit; in fact, she rarely removed them except to sleep and shower.

Saki grinned and donned her own set of cat ears. "Okay! I've got a couple cans of tuna fish in my bag. I'm sure Zeke and Clementine will know something!"

The two ninja raced through the dark streets until they arrived in a narrow alley way.

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite humans!" a tiny voice mewed. "Did you bring me any treats? The dumpsters had nothing good today..."

"Zeke-kun, that's not true, we found someone's old pet hamster. That was pretty good."

Zeke made a face. "Ugh, it had already hit rigor mortis. It didn't taste very good! But," the cat continued as he looked up at the humans with wide eyes, "I was so hungry, I ate it anyway."

Clementine looked up adoringly at the two girls. "I particularly enjoyed eating the head. Brains are the best!"

Saki turned paler by a few shades. "That's...er...great." _Wow, I'm soooo glad I can understand cat. That was like...nasty,_ she thought sardonically.

Hoshiko giggled and asked, "Did you manage to learn anything more from the Hokage's office today? If you do, we just might happen to have some tuna fish..."

Zeke and Clementine's eyes got as round as saucers full of cream. "Yummy!"

"But first, have you overheard anything?" Saki asked sweetly.

Zeke plopped himself down on the alley floor and scratched his chin with his paw. "Hmmm...Clementine-chan, what was that bit we heard? Something about a girl named Snow?"

"Was it Snow White and the Seven Dwarves?" Clementine offered hopefully.

"Noooooo...another girl named Snow...not Snow White...was it Snow Falling? First Snow? Hmmmm..."

Saki ventured, with some trepidation, "Was it Yuki?"

"Ah yes, Happy Snow! Yes!" Zeke did a little cat dance of joy.

Hoshiko inquired in a hushed whisper, "Zeke-kun, what did you hear about Yuki?"

Zeke turned his large eyes up to the dark haired girl. "Yuki's in trouble. The bad people are after her."

Clementine nodded. "The Fox ninja went to chase them away from Happy Snow."

Saki pulled back the tops on the tuna fish cans with trembling hands. As the cats gorged themselves on their reward, Saki looked up at Hoshiko.

"What...the fuck?" the pink-haired girl mumbled.

"Do you think your mom knows?" Hoshiko asked.

"No. Definitely not. If my mom knew Yuki was in trouble, she would have gone with Naruto-sama—er, I mean, your dad."

"Should we tell her?"

Saki shook her head no. Incurring Sakura's ire was never a wise decision. Sighing, Saki held out her hands. "I don't know _what_ we should do."

Hoshiko scrunched up her face in thought. "Let's go ask my mom. She'll know..."

Saki nodded enthusiastically— Hinata-sama was always nice and never scary (unlike _some_ moms she knew), and she always knew how to make things better. Like that time Saki had lost her favorite doll, or when Hoshiko flunked her algebra test. Hinata always made Saki feel okay about life, even when it seemed like comfort would be impossible.

The two ninja were off again, leaving their furry friends to enjoy their tuna fish feast.

* * *

><p>Ryuu was doing a great job distracting the enemy. A flurry of spastic clones ran circles around the enemy, flinging sharp pointy objects, and in general, running amuck. She overlooked the fact that one of his clones was actually <em>mooning<em> their opponent, and didn't pity the clone one bit when an arrow hit him, and he and his bare ass disappeared with a yelp of pain. It was unprofessional and disgusting—as per usual— but at least Ryuu was getting the job done.

_Just hold on a little while longer, Ryuu..._Yuki thought, when suddenly, she heard Tama stir next to her.

"What took you so long, mistress?" the cat asked in an undertone.

"Sorry. Let's use _that_ attack, ok?"

Tama nodded. "Hop on."

The instant Yuki climbed onto Tama's back, they became a black whirl of motion. Yuki funneled chakra into her feet to help her stay upright, and began weaving a series of handsigns. _Just a little closer...almost there...now!_

"Fire style! Fire ball jutsu!" Yuki leapt off of Tama's back and hurled a giant fireball the size of a small mountain in Yajirushi's direction. Meanwhile, Tama rose to flank their opponent at a ninety-degree angle, and shot her own pale fireball at the marksman. _Yosh! We totally got him!_ After a moment, the twin fires died out and all that was left in Yajirushi's place was ash. But before Yuki got too excited, her body tensed— _that was too easy!_— and, listening to her ninja instincts, leapt onto Tama's back, just in time to avoid a shower of arrows.

"Go!" She shouted to Tama.

"I must congratulate you, Yuki-chan," Yajirushi dawdled, "but unfortunately, that was just a clone. I think it's about time to end this little game, don't you?" While Tama and Yuki ducked for cover, the bowsman languidly drew back his weapon— "Ninja arts: Unshakeable Barrage."

_Shit!_ Yuki held onto Tama's soft coat as she ran as fast as the wind, but the hellish arrows were catching up to them.

"Faster, Tama!" Tama didn't answer, but instead strained her muscles as much as she could. "Make a sharp turn here!" Yuki ordered. Tama grunted and pivoted abruptly to the right, then continued to run like hell.

"What the fuck! The arrows are following us!" _Who ever heard of arrows that can turn in mid air? Unshakable fucking barrage indeed!_ Yuki was way out of her league, but she did her best to calm her mind. _Think. Think!_

"You keep running Tama, I'm going to try and burn the arrows."

"Y-Yes!"

Holding onto the lunging cat as best she could with her legs, Yuki wove a complicated set of signs. She wasn't really as comfortable with this jutsu, but it would have to do. "Fire style- phoenix flower jutsu!" A stream of smaller fireballs began oscillating out of Yuki's mouth— utilizing all of her concentration to control the fire with her chakra, she sent the flames out to devour the oncoming arrows. _There, this should stop them_—

However, as the flames cleared, she could see that the arrows were not only still there, but were gaining on them.

_Shit muffins._

Yuki's mind began reeling. _It seems like the arrows can track us...very well then._ In a last ditch effort, Yuki cast a genjutsu, making it seem like she and Tama had turned abruptly to the left.

"Thank Kami," Yuki whispered in her summon's ear, "it looks like he fell for it."

Indeed, all the arrows turned to fly after an imaginary opponent.

Tama smiled and paused for a moment to catch her breath—

And just then, Yuki felt something sharp and cold pierce her back. Her mouth parted in a silent scream as her body fell forwards onto Tama's back.

"You should never let your guard down, Yuki dearest." Yajirushi crooned from his vantage point in a high tree.

"Tama—RUN!"

They were off as fast as they could, but Tama was growing weary from the chase, and the more Yuki's body was jostled, the more she could feel the poison spreading, numbing her nerves and fogging her vision. _Shit...!_

Where the blazes was Ryuu?

* * *

><p><em>an will do my best to update by next weekend!_

**_Please feed your beloved starving fanfic writer with a review; they are tasty, delicious, and most appreciated:)_**


	16. Chapter 16: Virus

**_a/n well, it's going to be a busy weekend for me; thought I'd publish this early, as opposed to waaaay late! :X _**

**_Special super duper thanks to my beta, Uchiha.S, for being her most awesome and beauteous self:) I'm totally renaming this story 'Macaroni the Mystical Green Leather-Cap Feather' in her honor, ROFL! BTW, Please don't use shock therapy on me Uchiha-chan, I swear I won't use the word 'volley' ANY MORE! Xoxoxo!_**

**_Enjoy!_**

* * *

><p>Chapter 16<p>

**Virus **

_Saying "All my kin lay fallen,_

_My village is ash, smoldering in rain;_

_But your life I can save with my hands,_

_And the herb called 'Angel of the Mountain.'"_

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse III_

Ryuu lay panting on the ground. He didn't understand it. He hadn't taken a direct hit, so why was he feeling so sick? "Fuck this! I don't have time to screw around**—** Yuki's in trouble!" With a pained grunt, he dusted himself off and listened intently to the forest around him. Though he lacked an ocular dojutsu, he had inherited his father's keen sense of hearing. _There! She's over to the west, I can hear her and Tama running. _Ryuu fought against his dizziness and pushed himself off of the ground, though his stomach threatened to vomit. He forced chakra into his feet and took a few, wobbly steps before running as fast as he could towards Yuki.

_Shit!_ From his vantage point behind a tree, he could see Yuki had just been hit, and was barely holding on to Tama. Yajirushi let loose another volley of arrows, and this time he struck Tama's leg: the cat shrieked piteously, then disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ryuu began to shake with rage. _I can't just stand here! Not while this asshole shoots my friends full of holes! _He tried to gather his chakra, but he felt so _weak. _The boy squared his shoulders and clenched his fists, forcing his chakra into his hands. _"Shadow clone no jutsu!"_ he whispered, making about ten clones. They weren't much, but they would have to do. He was just in time: another assault of arrows was heading right towards Yuki's prone, shaking body.

Ryuu roared as he and his clones leapt out of hiding and placed themselves in a ring around Yuki, brandishing their kunai. But strangely, the arrow tips glowed a bright blue as they hurdled through space, and the chakra-enhanced metal bored straight through Ryuu's defense. Ten clones disappeared and one Ryuu sank down to his knees, his shattered kunai flung to the ground.

"Ryuu! RYUU!" Yuki shrieked in horror.

"I'm...sorry!" the boy gasped as he clutched his shoulder, a brightly glowing arrowhead sinking down into his flesh.

Yajirushi leapt down from his high vantage point to stand about ten feet away from the children. "What a pity. It seems that your sharingan didn't awaken after all. Such a waste of my time." He sighed in annoyance before continuing, "Oh well. I suppose I'll kill you and leave your body to rot." He lazily strung an arrow and pointed it at Yuki.

Ryuu ground his teeth and stood in front of his teammate, despite the overwhelming feeling of nausea accompanying the sudden movement.

Yajirushi raised an eyebrow. "Would you like to die first? Fine by me, little man." The bowsman changed the trajectory of his arrow and aimed it straight for Ryuu's heart.

"RYUU! RUN!" Yuki screamed, her voice ragged, her eyes wide in fear.

Ryuu grinned and shook his head. "Listen, I'm not very good at this technique, but it looks like you leave me no choice..."

Yajirushi smirked and let loose the arrow.

Ryuu gathered as much chakra as he could into his palm. The arrow met his outstretched hand with a violent burst of speed, and pushed the ninja back several feet. But Ryuu's face contorted with concentration as he forced even more chakra into his hand: at last, the arrow fell harmlessly to the ground. Panting heavily, he sent a silent prayer of thanks to his uncle Neji for teaching him the basics of the gentle fist style, despite the fact that he lacked the byakugan.

Yajirushi sighed. "I'm really not in the mood to play ninja anymore, children." Time seemed to slow, and a idle part of Ryuu's brain noticed, as the enemy loaded what must have been at least fifty arrows onto his bow, that Yajirushi was quite tall. That he wore a bright green feather in his leather cap. That he wore a Mist headband with a score through the center. The time it took for the marksman to draw back his bow seemed like an eternity filled with pointless details, all fumbling around in his brain like the unintelligible fragments of a dream—

Suddenly, the bow was released, and dozens of arrows were flying towards his body; the immediacy of danger brought Ryuu back to his senses, and at the last moment, instinct took over.

_Here goes nothing!_

"Eight trigrams, palms revolving heaven!" Ryuu funneled the last bit of his chakra into his palms and rotated it, just like his uncle Neji had taught him. A blue sphere appeared and most of the arrows bounced off harmlessly; however, Ryuu had never been very good at this technique, and despite his best efforts, a few arrows pieced his body: one on his leg, one in his side, and another on his foot. Panting with effort and dangerously low on chakra, Ryuu grimaced fiercely as Yajirushi loaded another round of arrows.

"Yuki! You've got to summon Amaya! Do something!"

Yuki clenched her teeth and forced herself to stand, despite the ensuing vertigo. _I would summon Amaya if I had the chakra for it..._ But she did not want to reveal her sorry chakra-deprived state to the enemy. Instead, she grunted, "Don't. Boss. Me. Around." Her feral grin, the one that she reserved for moments of true, boiling anger, twisted her features.

"Hey jerk," Ryuu ground out in an undertone, "remember that combo attack your dad taught us, when we first became a team?"

Yuki eyed Ryuu and nodded. "Yeah, asshole."

"Let's do it."

"Okay."

Yajirushi grinned. "I'm afraid not, children Say hello to hell for me—"

But Yajirushi had already taken too much time— Yuki cast a simple genjutsu, while Ryuu called up three shadow clones. "GO!" Yuki roared, finding newfound strength with her rising hope.

While Yajirushi released his arrows towards where he thought Yuki and Ryuu were, the Leaf ninja ducked for cover and then promptly executed their counter attack. Ryuu's clones worked on binding the enemy in wire and tying him to a tree while Yuki chucked several kunai with explosive tags at him. They both leapt out of the way as the explosions hit, incinerating their foe.

"Did we...?" Ryuu asked softly, hoping against hope that this nightmare of a mission was over.

They heard laughter resounding through the forest like ominous thunder. "I'm afraid simple genjutsu won't work on me, my dears. And now, you die."

The exhausted ninja looked up, and found themselves staring straight into an oncoming wall of arrows.

* * *

><p>"Sensei, please, don't move! You're going to open your wound!"<p>

Konohamaru shook his head and managed, in a pained whisper, "I've got to go help Yuki and Ryuu." He tried to move, but winched terribly as the pain hit him.

"Sensei! You've punctured your lung, please don't move! If you do— you'll...you'll die for sure," she concluded in a choked voice.

Konohamaru grimaced. "Fine. You go. You should fight."

Cho wiped her sweaty brow. She managed, in her best facsimile of her mother's no-nonsense tone, "Sensei, if I leave you now without stabilizing your wounds, then you'll die for sure. Yuki and Ryuu can hold their own." _I hope_, the medic added silently. "If I leave, your death is certain. If I stay, you'll likely live, but Ryuu and Yuki will be on their own." She took a deep breath before adding more softly, "What do you want me to do?"

Konohamaru nodded, his face creased with worry. "Please hurry and patch me up then, Cho-chan," he ground out between clenched teeth.

"Yes sir!"

Beside them, the old man, who had formerly been their client lay panting for breath, tears clouding his fading vision.

* * *

><p>"Naruto, we've been searching for hours..."<p>

"Damn it Sasuke! My kid's out there too you know—you can quit riding my ass!"

Sasuke shook his head. "Sorry. I wasn't blaming you. I think we just need to try a different approach," he clarified, willing himself to be calm despite the fact that he was a complete emotional wreck.

Naruto nodded. "Sorry. Yeah, you're right, because this isn't working. At _all_."

The two ninja stopped their frantic searching and sat down on rotting log. Sasuke took a long sip of water from his canteen, then handed it to Naruto. As the blond drank, Sasuke mused, "I'm beginning to wonder if the area is put under a genjutsu... or if there is some kind of hidden barrier around them..."

Naruto nodded. "Do you sense anything?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I'm not a powerful enough sensor; I can't do large areas. I think you should try going into Sage Mode..."

"Okay. Watch my back, then."

Naruto took a deep breath and formed three clones; in a moment, all the Narutos settled into a cross-legged position and began meditating. Sasuke sighed. _I wish I could be as relaxed as Naruto seems right now..._He shook his head to rid himself of his useless thoughts, then stood, straining his senses and standing at the ready in case they were attacked.

High up in the trees, a petite, female figure detected the two Konoha nin below her and bit back a curse. She skirted around their area with extreme stealth, and was able to slip by before they had a chance to notice her. _Thank Kami; if the Nature Sensor had been further into his meditation, my position might have been compromised, even despite all my training..._ She drew a small amount of chakra into her hands and formed a silver, mirror-like substance in the space around her body; then, she faded back into the forest. As she traveled on ahead, she mused with worry, _I just hope I'm not too late... _At least now she was impervious to detection.

Just then, her walkie-talkie came alive.

"Kchhh. Taicho. They're fifty degrees northwest, about one mile from here. They're surrounded by a ring of soulless drones. Permission to take out the guard circle? They're generating a genjutsu around the perimeter...over."

_So much for my supposed stealth skills... _The woman bit her lower lip— if the communications had come through just a moment earlier, it would have meant death at the hands of her enemies. _I need to be more careful about muting this darn thing..._ Instead, she schooled her voice to be calm and replied, "Permission granted. But remember, our primary objective is the Uchiha girl. Make sure you have your own barrier in place before you engage the enemy; the Konoha nin are here as well."

"I understand. Yes sir!"

The captain rushed on ahead, not noticing that her lower lip was bleeding where she had bitten it.

* * *

><p><em>This is it<em>, Yuki mused calmly, _I'm going to die._ There was no time to dodge the hundreds of arrows hurtling towards them, especially since her wounds impeded her ability to move quickly. Yuki decided to meet her death with dignity, like a true shinobi; and so she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

"Oooof!" Something heavy hit her and she fell on her side— Yuki braced herself against the pain.

Except that, curiously, there was no pain.

Gingerly, she opened one eye to find Ryuu collapsed on top of her.

"Ryuu! You idiot!" she roared.

Ryuu simply smiled down at her, until he began coughing up blood all over her uniform.

_No. No no no!_ Yuki couldn't move, pinned down as she was under her teammate, but somehow she managed to gasp, "Why...why..."

Ryuu just smiled at her again, and then proceeded to pass out. With trembling hands, she lifted the boy off of her chest and knelt beside him. She noticed the rows of arrows that stuck out of his back, as if he were a kind of prehistoric beast with spines, some ancient ancestor of the porcupine.

"Ryuu, don't you dare die on me!" she whispered, sotto voce. Then she began to shout, "Do you hear me? DON'T DIE!" But the prone boy did not respond, and Yuki could tell that while her heart was beating faster, his breathing was slowing. She realized that she still had a death grip on her companion, but she couldn't bring herself to let go of his shoulders.

"Ryuu! Do you hear me? Ryuu!"

The blond boy coughed up more blood and opened a bleary eye. _Thank goodness!_ Yuki thought triumphantly, _he's alive!_ "I knew you wouldn't give up on me!" Just then Yajirushi's booming voice broke into her consciousness, and her head whipped around to regard the momentarily forgotten foe.

"I'm afraid it's no use, Yuki-chan. I've shot him down with enough poison to take down an elephant; but even if all of those arrows had _missed_, he would still be dead. He had over a hundred shadow clones who took direct hits."

Yuki looked up at the marksman in horror. "What the _fuck_ do you mean!"

Yajirushi replied in a cool, pedantic tone, "Oh my dear, I use a poison that attacks the chakra network, almost like a virus. So even though shadow clones don't sustain physical damage, any damage done to their chakra systems will transfer to the user."

"No! I don't believe you, you fucking ass!" But even as the words left her mouth, Yuki knew it was true. _Damn it all! That's why I felt sick before I had even sustained a direct hit— my shadow clones had poisoned my chakra system!_

Yajirushi repeated, "Your friend is going to die, probably within the hour. And then, he will turn into another undead soldier, like myself—"

"FUCK NO!" Yuki rose to her feet as she shouted up at the marksman; she was trembling with pure rage. _It's not fair!_ _He kept on protecting me, again and again, even when he was more injured than I was. I'm such a fucking coward!_

"Afraid so. But no worries, you can meet up with your friend quite soon in the afterlife." And here Yajirushi cocked a single arrow at her. "Give my _warm_ regards."

Something inside Yuki snapped. As the enemy let loose an arrow, Yuki saw it almost as if it was traveling in slow motion. Moving purely on instinct, she leapt forward with a vicious snarl, neatly plucking the arrow out of midair with her bare hands.

Completely ignoring the searing pain in her back, Yuki landed on the ground and snapped the deadly arrow in half before tossing it aside with an animal-like growl.

"Congratulations Yuki-chan. You've just awakened your sharingan."

"Good," the Uchiha spat. "Because now, I'm going to rip you a new asshole." _It was just a ruse. It was all just a fucking ruse. He deliberately targeted Ryuu to awaken my sharingan. What. The. Fuck._

Yuki had read in her textbooks about enemy ninja that tried to steal the eyes of byakugan and sharingan wielders. Back at the academy, she had thought with cool logic that this was just the way of the world: it was your own fault if you lost a battle, and ergo your ocular powers, to your foe. In a world where only the strong survived, the strong also got to enjoy the spoils of war. However, it was another matter entirely to be facing a ninja who was trying to steal the very eyeballs out of your head over the dead body of your comrade.

_I __**will**__ kill this asshole, for Ryuu!_ And with that thought, she leapt forward—

Yajirushi drew back his bow and unleashed hundreds of arrows in a singular motion—

And suddenly, just as the fleet of arrows was about to meet Yuki's outstretched kunai, Yajirushi's face flashed in surprise: sharp metal ran right through his back and out through the front of his heart. As blood gushed out of his opened chest cavity, the arrows that had been speeding towards Yuki dropped quite suddenly, falling uselessly to the ground. Yuki's crimson eyes whirled in confusion. She looked up to see another pair of sharingan looking straight at her from behind one, dying marksman.

And then, Yuki landed on the ground and simply passed out.

* * *

><p><em>an oh my god, did I really just leave you on another cliff hanger? :X  
><em>

_Will do my best to update again next weekend *crosses fingers* Feel free to prod me to update though, it's going to be a busy one and I might need a lil' prodding...  
><em>

_Thanks so much for reading; reviews are always welcome and appreciated my dearest readers:)_


	17. Chapter 17: The Lady and the Dragon

_a/n Thanks for all your nice reviews all you lovely people!  
><em>

_Special super duper thanks to Uchiha.S, beta genius extraordinaire:) 'Cause you beta LIKE A BOSS! :D_

* * *

><p><em>Last time:<em>

_I __**will**__ kill this asshole, for Ryuu!_ And with that thought, Yuki leapt forward—

Yajirushi drew back his bow and unleashed hundreds of arrows in a singular motion—

And suddenly, just as the fleet of arrows was about to meet Yuki's outstretched kunai, Yajirushi's face flashed in surprise: sharp metal ran right through his back and out through the front of his heart. As blood gushed out of his opened chest cavity, the arrows that had been speeding towards Yuki dropped quite suddenly, falling uselessly to the ground. Yuki's crimson eyes whirled in confusion. She looked up to see another pair of sharingan in a stranger's face looking straight at her from behind one, dying marksman.

And then, Yuki landed on the ground and simply passed out.

* * *

><p>Chapter 17<p>

**The Lady and the Dragon**

_I awoke the next morning,_

_Her brother's eyes where once were mine;_

_And gasping with newfound sight,_

_Realized she hailed from the enemy's side._

The First Book of Akash, Verse IV

"Come in, come in vanguard! Are you there? Do you roger that? Vanguard!"

There was no answer on the other end of her walkie talkie.

_Shit. Either they are still engaged in battle... Or they're dead._

Gritting her teeth, Aya looked down at the man she had just impaled with her sword. "Damn you, Yajirushi; death is too good for you!" The petite kunoichi knew cursing the man writhing on the ground and gurgling his own black blood was pointless; and some part of her knew that it wasn't his fault— he had been possessed by the chakra of the Slaughterer. But she was so damn _frustrated_...

She bit her lower lip and formed the hand-signs for fire katon. First, she turned her attention to the wiggling cadaver on the ground and burned a hole through his chest cavity, incinerating his pierced heart and stilling his jerking movements forever. She knew if she didn't destroy the heart, he would rise again. Next, she spat fire down the length of her double-edged sword, burning off the black blood that stained her weapon. While she herself was immune to the blood-borne pathogens from the undead soldiers, she did not want to take any more chances. She sighed. They had _already_ taken too many chances, and too many had _died_ because of it_._ If only her father were still alive; she just was not cut out for this...

Shaking her head and sheathing her sword, she tried her walkie talkie once more. "Hello? Hello!"

Still no answer.

Cursing, she made her way over to the prone body of the Uchiha girl and began administering first aid. Aya let out a low whistle of appreciation. _Well, all things considered, she held up quite well against Yajirushi. _After all, that madman had taken out quite a number of her own, tough warriors who were twice this whelp's age. She bit off the cap of a hypodermic needle and administered the antidote. _This will take care of the physical poison; but the chakra infection is a little tougher to handle. Lucky for you, I know the cure. Many of my kinsman died for this wisdom... _

She held out glowing hands. As she worked, the space around Yuki's body was illuminated, revealing erie green chakra with pockets of dark swirling energy. Despite her own impatience to reconnect with her team, she forced herself to move slowly. This was tedious, painstaking work, and if she rushed it, the young girl before her would pay with her life: if that happened, Aya would have failed her mission. Slowly, slowly, the dark patches around the girl's body were replaced by healthy green light. Just as Aya was finishing her work, Yuki's eyes fluttered open, her new sharingan still activated.

"Am I dead?" she asked, her voice tinged with sleep, the commas in her eyes spinning slowly.

Aya smiled. "No. No, you're not dead, and I'm no angel. Stay still now, I'm almost done." Aya forced more chakra in her hands until finally, the infected chakra was purged. "Here, bite down on this." The woman handed Yuki a piece of leather. "I'm going to get that barbed arrow out of your shoulder."

"What about Ryuu?" Yuki broke in, quickly regaining consciousness. "You've got to heal him! He's in worse shape than me!"

"Ryuu?" Aya looked up, and sure enough, there was a blond boy stuck through with arrows as if he were a human pin cushion; he lay still as a stone at the edge of the clearing. _That must be the Hokage's son... _Aya nodded; now that the poison in Yuki's system had been dealt with, the flesh wound could wait. Technically, the Hokage's son was an enemy nin, but Aya had already seen too many children die; she would save this one, if she could.

The real question was: how long could Aya hold her ground before she was either overtaken by the soulless guard, or by the Konoha nin? She wasn't sure which was worse, honestly.

"Listen kitten, I'm going to try to connect with my team. Then I'll take a look at your friend." Aya utilized her radio, but was met with silence again on the other end. Sighing, she scooted towards the boy, pulled down his eyelids, and checked his vitals. _The poison has already spread to his vital organs. Looks like an arrow hit an artery above the heart as well. And last but not least, his chakra system is completely shot. If it weren't for the physical injuries, he would just become one of the soulless. As it is, he's about to meet his maker._

Aya took a deep breath before looking at Yuki, who had dragged herself to the clearing's edge, and was looking up at Aya expectantly. "I'm sorry kid, but there's nothing I can do for your friend." Aya's voice was steady; she supposed she had become all too accustomed to seeing dead children, dead friends and fathers... And anyway, there was no space for emotions out here on the battlefield: Aya had a mission to complete.

"But— you have to! You can't just give up!" Yuki would have gone on, but she was caught in a coughing spasm. Flecks of blood speckled her white shirt. Finally, she managed, "He—he saved my life. You have to try!" There were unshed tears in Yuki's eyes, tears that reflected the red of her whirling sharingan; it looked like she was about to weep a river of blood.

Aya grimaced at the sight, and her heart sank down into her stomach. Perhaps she was not as immune to emotions as she thought. She bit her lower lip, then offered with a sigh, "I'll ask his spirits... But if Lady Death has claimed him, then there is nothing I can do." The girl blinked in confusion, but Aya ignored her and instead rolled down the boy's eyelids again. She gazed into them, her sharingan activated.

_Aya found herself in a beautiful tea room, decorated with paper streamers and photographs of the sea. The place was empty except for two figures._

"_Hey— who are you? Are you an angel, too?"_

_**That must be the blond boy...Ryuu**__. "No Ryuu, I'm not an angel." Why did everyone think she was some kind of heavenly being today? If anything, she was far from it. Shaking her head, Aya continued, "I've come to ask you a very important question, kid. Did you drink any tea or eat any of those cookies?" Aya gestured towards the lavish spread in front of the boy._

_Ryuu nodded. "Uh-huh. They were really good..."_

_The Lady across from him smiled._

_Ryuu continued with a grin, "The Lady says that where I'm going, there will be lots of tea and cookies. She said my grandparents are really excited to meet me! Which is really cool! 'Cause I've like, never met them!"_

_Aya nodded. "I'll take my leave then, Ryuu, my Lady."_

_The elderly woman smiled and patted the boy on his head affectionately. "Are you ready to go now?" she asked the child sitting beside her._

_Ryuu pressed his lips together in thought. "I...I think I need to say goodbye first..."_

_The Lady nodded. "You don't have much time... But I do believe I can grant that request..."_

_Aya leapt—_

And found herself back in the grassy clearing, cradling the blond boy's head in her lap. He began to cough.

"Ryuu! Thank the Spirits, you're alive!" Yuki cried joyfully as she dragged herself over to her comrade.

Ryuu smiled at her, glassy eyed. "Yuki-chan, there's something I wanted to tell you." His voice was oddly calm and clear; Aya was surprised he could speak at all, considering his extensive injuries. _The Lady's kindness is truly abundant..._

"What—what is it?"

"Tell my family that I love them. That...I'll look after them. Tell sensei and Cho, too. Yuki?"  
>"Ryuu, don't— you sound like you're— Ryuu!" Yuki croaked. Aya averted her misting eyes; was she always doomed to witness such partings? <em>If only I had arrived sooner...<em>

"I love you too, Yuki-chan. Always have. I'm glad I got to...die...protecting you...like a true...shinobi..." Ryuu's gravelly voice began trailing off. Aya could tell that he didn't have much more time.

"Don't die on me! Ryuu! Ryuu, _please_! Don't leave me!" Yuki cried hysterically.

Ryuu looked at her in confusion. "Well...it's not like we're ever really separate...the Lady told me that... And...I'll...definitely...be...looking out for you... Just in a different way..." His expression turned weak and dreamy, but even so, he managed to grin at her. "You'll have to train...extra hard...for me, okay? Watch out for my parents, and my little sisters for me...down here...okay? Promise."

"I— I Promise! Ryuu-kun..."

"Thank you..." he whispered. He closed his eyes, and his labored breathing stilled.

Yuki was sobbing, starring at her mute comrade in disbelief. _Must be the first death she's seen. Poor thing, she looks a lot older than she really is..._ How old did the elder tell her the Uchiha girl would be? Ten?_You've got to hand it to the Slaughterer, he's a vicious fellow. Targeting a mere girl._ Aya shook her head and gently lay Ryuu's head back down on the grass, pausing briefly to say a prayer to the Lady. And then she looked at Yuki, curled up in a fetal position, the blood from her wound oozing slowly down her shoulder.

Aya sighed. _I've got to get her out of here before we're apprehended. I've already taken too long!_ "Yuki-chan," she offered softly, "We've got to get going."

"NO! I can't just leave him here! And Sensei, and Cho, they're here too!"

_All the more reason to get you out of here before they find me._ "Yuki-chan, look at me." Aya said it in a commanding tone; the girl sniffled and met Aya's whirling red eyes. _Good._

Yuki instantly passed out, placed under a gentle genjutsu. Aya sighed, deactivated her doujutsu, and picked up the girl's body. "Let's get you back to the village—"

Suddenly, her walkie talkie came alive: "Kchhh! Commander! Commander, come in! We were ambushed by Konoha nin, I repeat— kchhhhh."

The line went dead.

_Oh Fuck._

"Stop right there!"

Aya winced and turned to find herself staring up at the Hokage and Uchiha Sasuke.

_This won't do._ Aya made some quick calculations in her head. _I can't risk fighting the disciples of the Sanin while my team is missing in action. So I'll have to settle for the next best thing..._

"Put the girl down! Do it!" The dark haired man— whom she assumed was Sasuke— bellowed at her, his sword drawn and enhanced with lightening.

_I guess it's no use reasoning with this guy that I just saved his daughter's life, not at a time like this. After all, it was awfully suspicious how I was about to kidnap her, for all intents and purposes._ "Ok, I'm putting her down. It was never my intention to harm either of these two— I'm sorry I came too late." _You have no idea how sorry I am..._

As Aya placed Yuki down on her arrow-free side, the Hokage barked, "And if you didn't do it, then who did?"

Aya gestured with her head over to Yajirushi's limp, charred body. "Sorry, I'm more of a sword girl myself. Arrows aren't my thing." Aya brushed Yuki's forehead with an almost motherly gesture as she placed a seal on the girl.

"Stop that! What the—"

But before they could apprehend her, Aya blended invisibly back into the forest.

_Time to collect my people while the enemy is distracted..._

* * *

><p>Cho wanted to weep, but she wouldn't let herself. She was nearly out of chakra, and yet her sensei was still struggling for breath. <em>Please, just please hold on Ryuu, Yuki! I can't give up on sensei!<em> She silently funneled more chakra into her hands, concentrating it over the wounded lung. _If only..._ But Cho stifled her wishful thinking and concentrated on the task at hand.

It was so frustrating! She kept putting her chakra into the healing, and the lung wouldn't mend! And even for someone from the Akamichi clan, with an almost boundless supply of chakra, Cho was nearly at her limit.

Suddenly, there was a rustling in the underbrush. _Oh dear gods!_ Cho hadn't been able to set out traps, and now, with little to no chakra left, she was in no condition to fight. _I can't take my hands off of sensei! I'm the only thing between him and death!_ Cho fervently wished that she had been better at genjutsu, like Yuki. _Well, there's not much I can do. If I stop healing sensei, he'll die— I'll just have to wait and see what happens. Maybe it's just a squirrel? Please Kami, let it just be a squirrel..._

Well, whatever it was, it was definitely making too much noise to be a small rodent. Cho held her breath as the sound became louder and louder—

"Oh thank Kami, we've found you!"

"Hokage-sama!" Cho gushed. "Thank goodness! Please, we've got to get sensei to the hospital!"

Naruto wanted to say two things—one, that he was only a clone, and two, wasn't she forgetting their client, who was also struggling with a flesh wound just a foot away? But time was of the essence, and he had no time to explain. "Keep your hands on your sensei— I'm going to transport all of us right away!"

"Okay," Cho managed, her voice strained and weary.

Naruto's clone grabbed the client's hand. "Shit, he's stone cold," he mumbled under his breath.

Cho grimaced; she had momentarily forgotten about their underhanded client. If only she had been a better healer, she could have saved both of them. She bit her lower lip. Even though the client _had_ stabbed her sensei, if she had kept him alive, they could have brought him in for questioning! That was one of the first rules of being a ninja: capture enemies alive whenever possible. Doing so would provide valuable, lifesaving intel to the village. She felt like such a failure as she held out her trembling hand to Naruto. He promptly took hold of her and activated his transport jutsu: they were gone in a yellow flash.

After the lurch of the hiraishin, Cho rapidly blinked her eyes: they were in Konoha hospital. Too exhausted to stand, the kunoichi collapsed on the floor from sheer exhaustion. Her last thoughts before total oblivion claimed her were, _Please, Kami... Bring Yuki and Ryuu home alive..._

* * *

><p>"Yuki-chan, wake up." Sasuke cradled his daughter in his arms. "Please. Please wake up..." he croaked.<p>

"Otousan..." Yuki called blearily, still half caught up in a genjutsu.

"Yuki-chan!" Sasuke called, unable to mask the relief in his voice.

"Otousan, please don't call me Yuki-chan. Yuki-san will do nicely..." The semiconscious girl rubbed her eyes and was surprised that she was not in her bedroom. _I'm in a grassy clearing in a forest? Where am I? _Suddenly reality hit her like a ton of bricks—

"RYUU!"

"It's ok. I'm here," Sasuke breathed, holding his daughter as best he could without jostling the arrow protruding from her back.

From the shelter of her father's arms, her eyes took in the ghastly scene before her— Ryuu's mangled body was embraced by the Hokage. She couldn't see Naruto's face, as his back was to her, but she could see his body shuddering.

"Otousan—is Ryuu—?" She continued to stare at her companion's unmoving form, the blood from his multiple wounds already beginning to cool and congeal in ruby lumps.

Sasuke didn't know what to say, so instead he just clutched his daughter closer. Yuki blinked, completely numb for a moment, until all of her grief came crashing down on her at once.

"Oh! Shit! Otousan, it's all my fault! It's all my fault!" she wailed into his chest, her cries muffled by his shirt.

"It's not your fault, Yuki-chan."

"Shut up! You weren't there! How do you know— fuck! He died saving me! Oh Kami..." Yuki became quiet; she whispered, "He died...saving me...it should have been me...he was after me, it should have been me. Ryuu shouldn't have..." _Ryuu shouldn't have died!_ The words died on her lips; they were too painful, too _real_, and it couldn't be true, could it? Ryuu couldn't be dead...

Sasuke shook his head. Gathering up Yuki in his arms while minding her wound, he walked up behind Naruto, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We should go."

Naruto nodded. He unfastened his Hokage's cloak, and draped it over Ryuu's body as a shroud. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at Sasuke and Yuki. "Yuki-chan, are you ok?" he murmured, his voice as weak as an invalid's.

"Y-Yes...Hokage-sama," she managed through chattering teeth.

"Thank goodness." It was barely a whisper. Then he looked up into Yuki's eyes—"Seems like you have the sharingan, Yuki-chan."

Yuki blinked; it was frightening to hear the Hokage's voice sound like that, so feeble and broken, free of any inflection. "Y-Yes...Hokage-sama..."

Suddenly, a look of recognition rolled across Naruto's face. "Ah. One of my clones located Cho and Konohamaru. They're in the hospital now."

Then it was silent, and the ninja just stood, motionless, in the middle of the clearing.

"Naruto...do you want me to go after...?"

The Hokage shook his head. "No. Let's go back."

They were gone in a yellow flash.

* * *

><p>Well, so much for war breaking out. Sakura had been waiting around for quite some time, and not only was the village <em>not<em> under attack, but there was still no word from Naruto or Team Five. Contrary to what Hoshiko and Saki thought, Sakura _did_ know her daughter was being targeted, but wasn't feeling worried in the slightest. _After all, you don't fuck around with Naruto and Sasuke. Those two have taken down armies of zombies, half of the Akatsuki, and Uchiha Madara._ Sakura looked at the clock and sighed. _I suppose a little nap couldn't hurt. I'm exhausted..._ Yawning dramatically, she leaned her head against her desk...

The next thing she knew, Ino was yelling stridently in her ear.

"Wh-ha?"  
>Ino, instead of answering Sakura's maladroit question, began dragging her away by the crook of her arm.<p>

"Ino-pig, what's going on!" Sakura barked. In a moment, she was sorry for yelling, as she realized Ino's eyes were red and puffy—something was up.

"Konohamaru has a punctured lung and my baby is passed out cold from chakra exhaustion. I need you on that lung. I'll take care of Cho-chan."

"Oh shit! Ino... What about the rest of Team Five?"

Ino exhaled slowly as she ran. "We don't know yet..."

Sakura, ignoring the feeling of dread welling up in her gut, shook her head and began running to the operation room. A team of nurses were already assessing the situation. _Not good..._ Konohamaru's face was ashen, and he was struggling for breath. "Ino! I need you to get Cho conscious as soon as possible— any information she has is going to be valuable!"

"Already on it," the blonde grunted, her hands already aglow with chakra over her daughter's body.

Sakura gathered green chakra into her own hands and began fusing Konohamaru's lung back together. After a few moments, she was panting for breath. _Shit! It's not working! Damn it, why won't the tissue regenerate?_

"Get me Tsunade-sama!" Sakura roared, sending the attending nurses rushing around like chickens without heads. _This is bad... _She looked up into Konohamaru's face, and saw his lips were starting to blush blue. _This is really bad..._

* * *

><p>Yuki blinked slowly, the irritating florescent lights of the hospital momentarily blinding her. She closed her eyes and willed her sharingan to deactivate, as the sensitive jutsu was a hindrance in the garish light. For a moment, Naruto and Sasuke just stood there, bathed in the neon light, their shadows glowing greenly on the white tiled floors. The ventilation system switched on, and a stale breeze ruffled the cloak enshrouding Ryuu's rigid body.<p>

"Hokage-sama! Thank goodness, are you hurt?" Shizune tucked a clipboard under her arm and beamed up at the blond in relief.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Yuki needs a doctor. I..." His voice broke, and he grew silent.

Yuki shook herself out of her stupor and motioned for her father to put her down, which he did, albeit too slowly for her liking. She winced as her wound partially reopened from the movement. "Otousan, please aid the Hokage-sama. I'm perfectly capable of walking on my own."

Sasuke's hand lowered to his sides slowly, as if he couldn't stand letting her go; but in a moment, he nodded. "Shizune...we need a room...for... Ryuu-kun."

"I'll get a doctor for him right away—where is he?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Just— empty room?"

Shizune paled visibly. "Across the hall..." She pointed to the empty room, her voice trailing off uncertainly as Naruto jerked forward, carrying an ominous bundle in his arms.

Yuki leaned her head against Shizune's arm. "Can you please remove this piece of shit from my shoulder," she ground out, her vision swimming.

The medic refrained from chastising the genin for her language, and instead wordlessly led her away. Opening a door into a sterile white room, she nervously offered, "Your mother is busy working on your sensei—"  
>"How is he?" Yuki barked.<p>

Shizune reached for her medical tools and chose her words carefully. "He's in good hands."

_And she's evading the question. Not a good sign, not by a long shot._

Yuki resisted the urge to hiss and instead, replied as evenly as she could, "Take me to my mother. I've got information."

"But—"

"_Now!_ I need to go now!" she spat with fury, ignoring the stars exploding in her field of vision. "I have sensitive information about the poison the enemy used!" _I can't lose another comrade__—__I can't!_

Shizune gulped in light of Yuki's determination. "Ah. Fine. I'll do the operation in the main room."

Ignoring Shizune, Yuki stood and stumbled; clenching her fists, she forced herself to walk as quickly as possible out of the room. Shizune scurried after her, following her to the operating room on the next floor. As they climbed the steps, Yuki bit back yelps of pain as the arrow tore a bit deeper into her already tender flesh. She reminded herself that the pain was nothing: she had things to do. _Shinobi do not cry, shinobi do not feel pain..._

She stormed into the operating room like a feral tiger, throwing the doors open and shooing the nurses away with her icy glare. "Okaasan!"

Sakura almost shook with relief. "Yuki, I'm so glad—"

"Save it. Sensei was stabbed in the back by our client. The knife he used was poisoned. Cho— is she okay?"

Her mother exhaled slowly. "Yeah...Cho is fine. Just passed out from chakra exhaustion. Where is Ryuu-kun?"

Yuki closed her eyes and fought down a wave of nausea; she willed her gelatinous brain to think. So. They didn't know yet about Ryuu; but Yuki would not—no, could not— be the one to tell her. Yuki had to help save her sensei. She forced down the memories of what had happened no more than one hour ago and swallowed the bile rising in the back of her throat. Ignoring her mother's question, she spat, "It's likely that the knife used against sensei was laced with the same poison our enemy used in the field. Not only does the toxin target the vital organs, but also implants some kind of virus into the chakra system—"

"Move out of the way! Tsunade-sama is here!" a nurse cried, breaking into Yuki's thoughts.

"Troll, let someone get that arrow out of your back!" Tsunade spat as she passed Yuki.

Sakura sighed and made way for her mentor, muttering, "I can't seem to mend his lung. Yuki mentioned something about a chakra pathway virus...?"

Tsunade nodded and held out her hands over the gray ninja. "Shizune! Take that piece of garbage out of Yuki's shoulder while she tells me everything she knows."

"Yes ma'am!" Shizune squeaked.

Yuki was ushered into a chair while Shizune readied her surgical instruments. Yuki glared across the room at the former Hokage and all but shouted, "I was just telling my mom. The knife sensei was stabbed with was probably laced with a poison that carries a chakra virus. I think it's similar to what the enemy was using on his arrows."

"A chakra virus. And that means _what_, exactly?"  
>Yuki frowned. "I'm not really sure. That's just what the enemy told me. After I used some shadow clones as a distraction, the damage they underwent from his arrows was transferred into my chakra system— as if my chakra itself was being poisoned."<p>

Tsunade nodded. "Well, that would explain why your sensei isn't healing— but how are _you_ still standing?"

Yuki grimaced as Shizune began to cut into the already sore flesh in her shoulder. "Because— Some. Lady. Gave. Me. The. Antidotes. Gah!" One of the nurses offered her a bit of leather to bite on, but Yuki shot her a death glare until the nurse beat a hasty retreat.

Tsunade sighed sharply, her hands hovering above Konohamaru's chest. "Brat! What do you mean, _some lady_?"

"Yeah. She. Saved. Ah. My. Life. But. That's. Neither. Here. Nor. There. Damn it— Fuck! Shit! Ah..." Yuki swore as the arrow was removed, almost passing out from the intense pain. She sighed as the wound was washed and bandaged, shivering a little at the new blood trickling down her back.

"Hate to bother you Yuki-chan, but did you say antidotes, as in plural?"

"It's kind of hazy, Tsunade-sama." Yuki took a deep breath, then continued, "I was half dead at the time. But yeah...she gave me an internal treatment, and then she did something to my chakra network..."

"Sakura, take a sample of Yuki's blood and analyze the antibodies. Someone come over here and apply constant chakra to Konohamaru's wound—we need to feed it a steady supply until we can resolve this. Ino, hand your daughter off to Shizune, and come and probe Yuki's mind."

"Um...Tsunade-sama?" Yuki ventured.

"What?" she barked.

"I think I can remember if you give me a minute..." Yuki didn't feel like mentioning that her sharingan had captured the end of the procedure. Bringing up her newly acquired sharingan now would lead to awkward and annoying questions: questions she did _not_ want to answer. Because after all, the sharingan usually activated under extreme stress. _Ryuu..._

"You're in no condition to heal anyone yourself, nor can you relay the information accurately enough. Ino!" Tsunade commanded.

Yuki tried to protest, "But—Ino's... She's not going to like what she sees!"

"Inconsequential," Tsunade muttered, all but ignoring Yuki as the former Hokage fumbled with medical implements.

"Hn." Yuki took a deep breath; she was too tired to fight. Still swooning from the removal of the projectile and from the day's events, she merely clenched her teeth as Ino approached her. If Ino could glean the pertinent information from Yuki's memories and save her sensei, she supposed it mattered little.

Ino smiled at Yuki, thinking that the preteen was just being overly dramatic as usual, which just caused Yuki to grimace even harder. _Don't say I didn't warn you Ino-san..._

Ino was barely into the probe when she slumped down on her knees. "Oh! Yuki-chan!" Ino whispered, falling to her knees.

Yuki glared at her. "Just keep going! Get to the part where the weird lady heals me, damn it. That's what you're supposed to be doing! For fuck's sake, sensei is counting on me!" _I can't let another comrade die! Damn it Ino, if he dies it's my fault, my fault, MY FAULT!_

But Ino couldn't stop weeping.

* * *

><p><em>an will do my best to update within the next two weeks:)_

_Please let me know what you think of this chapter via your review; it was really hard to write, and your feedback would be really helpful!_


	18. The Injured, the Exhausted, and the Dead

_Thanks all for your awesome reviews!_

_Special thanks to Uchiha.S for beta'ing! xoxoxox!_

_Will do my best to update within the next two weeks...until then, enjoy! And happy new year!  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter 18<p>

**The Injured, the Exhausted, and the Dead**

****_I sat straight up in the makeshift bed  
>My blood all froze;<br>Crying "Why'd you save me, woman,  
>I'm the very one who razed your home."<em>

_~The Second Book of Akash, Verse V  
><em>

"Ino! Stop it," Yuki demanded. But the blonde continued to bawl while the other adults stared on in silence; it was clear that Ino was useless. Yuki hissed, the air making a thin whistling sound as it rushed past her clenched teeth. Ignoring the searing pain in her shoulder and the curious looks of the nurses, Yuki stood, grimacing all the while. She disregarded the stars dancing across her vision and walked over to the operating table as evenly as she could.

"Troll, what are you doing?" Tsunade asked dryly.

Yuki came to an abrupt halt, closing her eyes mid-stride. "Shut up." Her eyes snapped open and regarded the former Hokage coolly with the sharingan. Tsunade blinked, her anger fading in the wake of surprise. Yuki completed her journey over to her injured sensei, and continued in an icy tone, "Please stand aside."

One of Tsunade's eyebrows rose in a high arch. "Now this should be interesting," she muttered, making way for the girl. Behind her, Sakura continued to blink at regular, two-second intervals, as if she couldn't quite believe what she saw.

_I can remember everything that strange woman did—it's almost like a crystal clear photograph._ Was this the power of the sharingan? Yuki always had what her teachers called a photographic memory, but her recollections of the foreign woman were different than just recalling information from a textbook. Every detail of what Yuki had seen was etched into her mind like a perfectly rendered painting, each small detail crisp.

She lifted her hands over Konohamaru's chest, gathering whatever scrap of chakra she had left in her system. _My chakra isn't much, but it will do. I won't let another comrade die. Not today. Fuck—no._ Resolve sharpened her senses; she activated the light around her sensei's body, much in the way the petite kunoichi had done for Yuki in the forest.

_There! I can __**see**_ _it, the swirls of black energy... _She made sweeping motions with her hands, brushing the inky vortexes with her fingertips until they elongated like black, feathery clouds. Breathing heavily, she concentrated the light in her hands on the darkness.

_It's working!_ The black spots dissolved into green light, and soon the space around Konohamaru's body shone brilliantly, like newly polished silver. His erratic breathing became smooth and regular, and some color returned to his face. Yuki let the jutsu fade. _Thank Kami..._

Sakura, who hitherto had been silently appraising her daughter, broke into the quiet of the room. "Yuki-chan— what in the world did you just do?"

Yuki was dizzy and steadied herself with one hand on the operation table. She deactivated her eyes before murmuring, "What? Didn't you just see for yourself? It's obvious."

Sakura blinked owlishly. "Um...I didn't see you do a damn thing besides raise your hands over Konohamaru. And that light glowing in the middle of your forehead. And suddenly—he was fine."

"I cleaned the chakra around his body." Yuki began blinking fiercely, as the room blurred. _I had a light on my forehead? Is that part of the sharingan package or something?_

"Around his body?" Sakura murmured, confused. "Chakra flows in chakra vessels, not around the body—what are you talking about?"

_This is going to be way too much effort to explain._ Especially because Yuki had no idea exactly what had just transpired; she had merely copied a jutsu, but did not understand the exact physics of it. She shook her head to erase the blurry lights trailing across her eyes, but it didn't quite work— she felt her knees buckling out from under her. The last thing she felt were her mother's strong arms around her waist, and then she knew nothing else besides darkness and strange dreams.

* * *

><p>As Yuki lay sleeping in a hospital bed, the building around her became a beehive of activity. And who could say what happened first or second? The linear order of things was hard to decipher in the whirlwind of whispers.<p>

The hospital staff shuffled through the neon hallways and rooms, like ghosts haunting a lonely catacomb; doors creaked open and closed as they passed, groaning on rusty hinges. There was the IV dripping into Konohamaru's arm, his face ashen, but his breathing steady; Cho's eyelids fluttering open and Ino crying out in relief. The sunlight faded into twilight, then twilight merged with the seamless black night; inky clouds obscured the moon and stars. There was Hinata's halting approach to room three-hundred-and-seven, and her pale, muffled shriek; while Shikamaru shook his head in the hallway, eyebrows narrowed, calculating.

Sasuke sat silently by Yuki's side, an almost palpable weight on his shoulders, thinking:_If only I had gotten there sooner, if only I hadn't failed._ _But I always fail; I fuck up, and others pay the price__—__ it always ends this way, always, always, always._ In his mind's eye, fragments of full moon memories surfaced: _Mother, father, limbs splayed, blood pooling, glinting, unforgiving moonlight__—__ Itachi why? Why take them and leave _me_? Why__—_

Then Sakura entered, breaking into his incoherent thoughts with the creaking of hinges. He nodded in silent greeting, slowly rising from his worn seat. She mumbled Naruto's coordinates, her eyes staring at the ground, as if she was afraid to look at his face; as if she was afraid of what he might say. But there were no words, nothing he could say in response; he gestured for her to take his place in silence, and in silence, he left Yuki's bedside. He made his way to room three-hundred-and-seven, where his hands only brushed the doorknob but lacked the strength to twist it open. So instead he slumped down by the closed door, trying not to hear the subdued sounds inside.

_It must be midnight by now_, or so he thought; the deep space of night accentuated the harsh brightness of the interior lighting, the long lightbulbs hummed and the vibration punctuated the deathly silence. The sound sucked the marrow from his bones, and like his bones and his slumped spine, his thoughts lacked any real integrity, his observations flowed in a dream-like narrative devoid of any lucidity. Not knowing what to do with himself, he sighed; the air rushed out of him all at once, like a punctured tire. Suddenly the door opened and a heavy hand landed on his head.

Startled, he looked up, even though his eyes could not see. "Hinata..."

He sensed that she was smiling. "I'm just heading home. My father was nice enough to watch the kids for me..." her voice broke as she said the word 'kids,' her words trailing off into the florescent hum of the hallway. Sasuke rose and took her hand in his.

"I'm sorry—"

Hinata cut him off abruptly by placing her free hand down in a hard motion on his shoulder, not wanting to hear anyone else tell her that they were_ sorry._ Kami, what a phrase to hear at a time like this. Like a drowning man reaching for a threadbare rope, no one knows what to say and so they mutter _I'm sorry:_ as if _that_ could encapsulate anything. No, Hinata would have much preferred silence; she was afraid to look at people, afraid of what they might say. Uchiha Sasuke of all people should have known this, the fear of words, the tyranny of sound; better to have a void of voices, a simple silent presence that could encompass or surpass a trifling turn of phrase.

But plans must be made, destinations must be ascertained, and so words must fill her mouth. A soft, sad smile played across her lips as she whispered, "They're all probably asleep, so you can collect Takeo and Saki tomorrow."

Sasuke shook his head. "Naruto...?"

"Is going to stay. While they prepare the body. I can't bear to stay while..." her voice failed her again. Unable to complete her sentence, she stared down at the linoleum floor.

"Let me come home with you."

"That's all right—"

"I insist. Let me be there for you. Please."

Hinata looked up at Sasuke and smiled again, fat pearlescent tears falling from her eyes. "You should stay here. With Yuki-chan. And for Naruto..." Hinata sighed sharply before continuing, "My father and Neji are at my house...so, I'll be okay. Why don't you go in?"

Without waiting for his answer, Hinata opened the door and gestured for him to enter. Powerless to stop the trajectory of his own feet, he shuffled inside past Hinata's sadly smiling face; she whispered goodbye and closed the door behind him. He could sense Naruto sitting in a hard backed chair, staring idly into space, while an aide removed the barbed arrows from the corpse's back. _Ryuu..._ Sasuke thought fiercely to himself— it wasn't just a corpse, damn it: it was the body of Naruto's first born son.

On the battlefield, Sasuke had never given a second thought to the dead bodies piled around him in scattered, rotting heaps. Especially not in the last war. He had been numb, immune to any feeling then. But now, just this one dead body had the power to rob the breath from his throat and to drain the blood from his face. He was chilled down to his weary bones. He had watched this boy grow from a small sprout into a rambunctious, affectionate young man_—_ only to be cut down.

Sasuke exhaled sharply, myriad disparate images flooding his mind's eye: Itachi's farewell smile before his form crumpled on the stone, slick with rain and blood; then Sasuke, half-dead himself, falling next to him. His childhood living room grown dark, the cherry wood floor cradling his parents in its polished, bloodied embrace; Itachi's frenzied form hovering over their corpses like a vulture. And then running through the Uchiha compound, the cobbled streets literally flowing crimson, the blood steaming in the cold night air, as if the dead were offering incense to themselves—

He shook his head. These memories didn't come back to haunt him very often, and he was surprised at their sudden reemergence. _Damn sharingan. I don't even have sight anymore, but those images have been burned into my mind._ And before him lay another victim of some madman targeting a sharingan user. Not for the first time, Sasuke silently cursed the day the ocular jutsu— a source of nothing but suffering— came into the world.

Sasuke slowly sat down in a chair next to Naruto. Not knowing what to say, he said nothing. After a few moments, Sasuke placed a tentative hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Thanks." Naruto whispered it so quietly, Sasuke wasn't sure he had heard him at all. So he just sat there, saying nothing, his hand on Naruto's shoulder, until dawn's rosy fingers pulled up the curtain of night, staining the eastern horizon blood-red.

* * *

><p>Sakura woke with a start when someone laid a hand on her shoulder.<p>

"Hey."

Yawning, Sakura replied, "Hey, Tsunade-sama." The older woman took a seat beside her and regarded Yuki's sleeping form with curiosity. "What's up?" Sakura glanced at the clock, which told her it was just past four. She had only been asleep for a handful of hours.

Tsunade idly twirled a strand of long blonde hair before replying, "A few things. First of all, I'm worried about Yuki's mental health. Ino...told me what she saw."

Sakura exhaled slowly as Tsunade expounded upon Ryuu's rather gruesome death. After her mentor finished, there was thick silence left hanging in the air. Sakura closed her eyelids tightly, too worn and tired to feel much more than a heavy numbness hanging where her heart should be.

Tsunade coughed softly and continued, "Also, there's the fact that Yuki was healed and almost kidnapped by a strange woman, who placed an unknown seal on Yuki's forehead." The older woman leaned forward and tapped her lips with chapped fingertips, deep in thought.

Sakura nodded and whispered, "It seems to have helped her heal Konohamaru. I doubt it's harmful, but..."

"But we don't know for sure." Tsunade continued dryly, "I don't know how much we can trust Yuki's potential kidnapper. However, there is one more thing that concerns me even more."

Sakura exhaled loudly and leaned back into her chair, her stiff back aching. Tsunade explained, "Ino seems to think that this strange woman possessed the sharingan. Although whether or not that was a hallucination of Yuki's remains to be seen."

Sakura hissed. "How...?"

"How is that possible? Indeed," Tsunade finished her student's sentence once more before leaning back in her chair as well. "We have more questions than we have answers, which makes me extremely uncomfortable."

Sakura nodded, lost in thought. Why was her daughter being targeted? Why did her potential kidnapper bestow a seemingly beneficial gift on her? And why did this mystery person have the sharingan? Sakura shook her head and replied, "Uncomfortable is an understatement."

"I'm going to need you to do me a favor, Sakura." Tsunade eyed her apprentice and stated, "I'll be assuming the Hokage's duties for a while, until Naruto has had some time... I'll need you to assist me. I'm too old to do this confounded job by myself."

Sakura's mouth twitched upwards in a half-grin. "It'll be just like old times. You sign the papers, I hide your sake—"

Tsunade snorted. "For your first job, I'll need you to take a full mission report from Yuki-chan. The more information we have on the enemy, the better. You'll need to analyze that seal on her head, too. Meanwhile, I've already sent the ANBU out to the border to collect information; though I doubt there will be much left to find."

"Yes. Yes of course, shishou. I'll talk to Yuki in the morning, after she recovers..." Sakura gulped at that, realizing how shallow her words sounded. It would be a long time—possibly a lifetime— before Yuki ever recovered from the loss of her teammate and childhood friend.

Tsunade put her arm around her pupil. "I've seen a lot of death in my time Sakura, but this one hits hard."

Sakura gulped and nodded. "Would you mind looking after Yuki-chan while I check on Naruto?"

Tsunade nodded. It looked like one of those nights where not many would sleep, besides the injured, the exhausted, and the dead.

* * *

><p>One minute, she was healing her sensei, the next, she found herself high up on a mountain, overlooking an expanse of pink sky. Yuki's breath hitched in her throat; the way the undulating hills merged into the misty horizon, one could almost imagine the mountains continuing on into infinity. Konoha had its own small clusters of volcanic formations, but Yuki had never seen anything like this: so many rolling, majestic peaks spread out like rows of rosy tinted tortoise shells that had been shed by giant, mythological beasts.<p>

"Yuki."

With a start, Yuki turned towards the source of the commanding voice. "Oh. It's you— the angel." Yuki supposed she should thank the woman for healing her, and for trying to save Ryuu's life, but the words caught in her mouth.

The so-called angel shook her head from side to side. "My name is Aya. I'm no angel, I'm a spirit walker." The petite woman brushed her dark curls over her shoulder and held out her hand. She took it gingerly, but before Yuki could get a word in, they were flying in the magenta aether.

Yuki let out a yelp of surprise.

"Don't worry, you won't fall," Aya replied serenely.

Yuki clenched her teeth nervously, but it was so beautiful, high up in the air like this, that soon Yuki was engrossed in enjoying the miniature landscape below, her fears quickly forgotten. As she gazed down at the lolling mountain range below her, she noticed a small settlement.

"What's that, down there?"

Aya smiled kindly and replied, "That's my home."

Without further ado, they swooped down like a pair of hawks, landing gracefully on the edges of a small village. Aya turned towards Yuki and spoke, "You need to come here as quickly as possible. Remember my words. Before one month passes, you must leave your village— you and your grandmother. Walk with your back to the rising sun for one day, then march due south for another. When you first lay eyes on the Akash mountain range, summon Tama and ride. She knows the way." Aya smiled again, but then winced. "I don't have any more time to explain, and I won't be able to come to you again. I know you must have many questions, but you just have to trust me. Okay?"

Yuki looked at the woman with trepidation. "But I—"

Aya shook her head sadly. "I have to go. Remember. It's unbelievably important that you come before the month is out. Otherwise, both of our villages will be destroyed. You will come, won't you?"

Yuki's mouth opened of its own accord. "Y-Yes!"

The small woman gave Yuki another sad, soft smile. "Good."

Suddenly, the world lurched—

"Yuki! Yuki-chan!"

It felt as if the words were coming from miles away, muffled by the weight of darkness pressing on Yuki's eyelids. She wished the noise would go away: she had important things to do in this dreaming space, and the voice was interrupting her. But despite her wishes, the voice was insistent, repeating her name with increasing force. She felt a hand brushing her forehead, which startled her; ninja should be acutely aware of her surroundings, and Yuki clearly had no idea what was going on, muddled as she was by dreams. "Ah—um...ah..." Yuki blinked rapidly. "Mom, is that you?" Her vision was blurry from her deep sleep, but it was hard to mistake the pink blur in front of her as anyone but her own mother.

"Oh, sorry, I was worried. You were talking in your sleep." Sakura smiled and put an arm around her daughter.

Yuki's dream came rushing back. _Was that...real?_ But she had no time for recollections: Sakura was frowning and probing Yuki's forehead with chakra.

"Tch. Mom, what are you doing?"

"That mark on your forehead— it's gone." Sakura frowned.

"I had a mark on my forehead?"

Sakura exhaled sharply. "Let's see how the rest of you is doing." Humming a tune, she channeled chakra into her palms. "Looks like you are healing quite nicely. You're starting to recover your chakra, but please refrain from using any jutsu for the next few days." Sakura released her jutsu and embraced her daughter in an impromptu hug.

Yuki, never one for displays of affection, uncharacteristically hugged her mother back.

"Mom?"

"Yu-huh?"

Yuki sighed. "I'm sorry."

Sakura moved back so she could look at her daughter's face. "Why?"

Yuki hung her head. "If I had been a better shinobi...Ryuu wouldn't be dead right now."

Sakura tilted Yuki's chin up so that she could look directly into her daughter's eyes. "You are an excellent kunoichi. If you weren't, you, Cho, and your sensei would also be dead." Sakura's eyes misted over, but she forced herself to continue, "You did the best you could with what you had. Blaming yourself for his death won't bring him back."

Yuki sighed heavily and looked down at her blankets, her hands twisting the bedsheets. Suddenly she burst out, "Oh! Shit, I knew I forgot something!" The girl bit her thumb, jumped out of bed, and slammed her bloody hand down on the ground.

"Yuki! What did I say about jutsu!" Sakura yelled as Tama manifested in a poof of smoke. But then Sakura's face broke out in a grin, and she muttered something about how it was easy to forget that Yuki-chan was only ten; she looked and usually acted so much older. Besides, today of all days Sakura was not going to be harsh with her daughter.

"Mistress?"

"Tama! Thank Kami, you're all right!" Yuki wobbled a bit on her feet, and Sakura guided her gently back to her bed. Tama purred, shrank down to the size of a house cat, and jumped up on the bed to rub up against Yuki. "I'm fine! I had healing done on the wound from that nasty arrow."

Sakura cocked her head to the side and looked at the summons. "Your leg," Sakura murmured as she pointed to Tama's leg all wrapped in bandages, "How was it healed?"

Tama blinked, thinking a moment before replying, "I'm sorry. That's a clan secret."

"Can you tell Yuki?" Sakura asked.

Tama blinked up at Yuki. "When my mistress is ready to know."

Sakura wanted to ask more, but Yuki broke in forcefully, "Tama, would you be able to carry me on your back?"

"Yes, I think so..." she mewed.

Sakura stood and placed her hands on her hips. "Young lady, you are NOT going anywhere!"

Yuki sighed, but just then her stomach grumbled. "Tch. I was just going to get some food."

"I'll get it for you, Yuki-chan. Just stay put, okay?"

"It's Yuki-_san_, and yes, thank you."

Sakura rolled her eyes, smiled, and exited the room.

Tama looked up at Yuki and purred, "Is your mother always so easily fooled?"

The corners of Yuki's mouth twitched up in a half-grin. "Only when she gets all mushy gushy on me and forgets that I'm a shinobi. Let's go quick, before she gets back. I need to speak to the Hokage."

Tama puffed up to tiger size. Yuki sat down gingerly, and in a moment, they jumped out of the third-story window.

"Here we got Yuki-chan, I've brought some soup— YUKI! DAMN IT ALL!" Sakura huffed and looked out of the open hospital window. "Now where in the world could she have gotten off to?"

* * *

><p>"I see. Thank you, Yuki-chan."<p>

Yuki leaned back heavily on her summons, sitting cross legged on the floor, as Naruto leaned forward on the kitchen table, his head in his hands. The Hokage looked like he hadn't slept in a week, and the flesh around his eyes was puffy and purpled. He looked like he had been dragged through the seven circles of hell. Behind him, Hinata stood with her hands on his shoulders, smiling softly, and on either side Naruto was flanked by his daughters. Sora, young thing that she was, just looked confused, while Hoshiko's red and swollen eyes rivaled those of her fathers.

Hinata's soft voice broke the silence. "Thank you for giving us Ryuu-kun's message, Yuki-chan. And for being such a good friend to Ryuu-kun. I'm glad you were there, fighting alongside him...until the end."

Yuki bit her lower lip, but otherwise forced her features to remain smooth before replying, "H-He was a much braver ninja than I. He saved my life." Yuki made herself look Hinata and Naruto right in the eyes. "I'm sorry—if I had been stronger..." Unable to complete her sentence, she squeezed her eyes shut while fighting to maintain her composure. _It's all my fault..._ Tama leaned over and licked Yuki's cheek with her rough tongue.

"Okaasan? When is Ryuu coming back?" Sora asked politely.

Hinata shook her head. "He isn't coming back, sweetheart..."

"But why? I miss him." Sora crossed her arms and pouted. Naruto merely picked the girl up and gave her a bear hug. "Ugh, daddy, you're hugging me too hard!"

Naruto smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. "Sorry, Sora-chan," he whispered. The girl smiled and settled into Naruto's lap, still oblivious to what was going on.

Hinata walked over to Yuki and kissed her cheek. "It was very sweet of you to come visit us,Yuki-chan."

Yuki dragged her arm over her eyes and regarded Hinata in confusion. Hinata smiled and sat down next to the genin, rubbing her back. "Please, Yuki-chan. Don't blame yourself for what happened..."

Yuki blanched— "How— how did you...?" Yuki didn't _think _the Hyuga had mind reading capabilities.

"You are much too like your father. He always blames himself for every little thing, like the milk going bad in the fridge, or rainy weather on a festival day, and the like." Hinata winked at Naruto, who managed a forced-sounding chuckle. The Hyuga sighed wearily and ran her fingers through Yuki's hair. "I've always thought of you as another one of my daughters. I'm glad I didn't lose two children that day." Hinata smiled sweetly and gathered the Uchiha girl in her arms as Yuki began to sniffle.

"How—how can you say that? It's my fault that Ryuu—"

"Hush now. No one believes that." Hinata continued stroking Yuki's short, spiky hair. "We're blessed that Ryuu had a friend like you, Yuki-chan. And I'm sure Ryuu would tell you to stop blaming yourself if he were here."

Yuki completely lost it at that point and began to weep in Hinata's arms. _Why am I the one crying? I was supposed to be strong... _Yuki wiped her face on her sleeve after a few moments and murmured, "I-I don't understand. Why aren't you crying, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata perched her chin on top of Yuki's head and replied lightly, her eyes closed, "I physically ran out of tears last night. I think the tear ducts can only cry so much before they just run dry." The dark haired woman kissed the top of Yuki's head. "But I think it's time now to take you back to the hospital. Sakura-chan will be furious that you've left."

Yuki grimaced. "Hmmm. Probably." Hinata handed her a tissue, for which she was very grateful. At that moment, Sora, who hitherto had been comfortably ensconced in her father's lap, slid down and approached their visitor.

"Yuki-sama?"

The corners of Yuki's mouth twitched up in a grin at the flashy honorific. "Yes, Sora-chan?"

Sora blinked up at her, and then blithely hugged her leg. "Will you come back and play with me when you're feeling better?"

Yuki beamed down at her. "Of course. It would be my honor."

Sora nodded, content. "I want to be an awesome kunoichi when I grow up, just like you!" The wide grin on Sora's face was the exact twin of Ryuu's iconic expression, and Yuki had a hard time retaining her cool upon seeing it. Not wanting to risk breaking down in tears again, the Uchiha merely forced a smile, pat the young girl on the head, and lay down on Tama's back before being carried out of the Uzumaki's kitchen.

* * *

><p><em>Sasuke stood in an expansive field. It was strangely illuminated on all sides though there was no sun present. The grass all around him was an almost artificial shade of chartreuse, and though there was no breeze, the field undulated in waves. Nearby, a creek gushed, creating a backdrop of static sound; somewhere in the distance he heard doves murmuring, like a chorus of mourners. A peaceful but eerie scene. It had been a long time since Sasuke had this particular reoccurring dream, and he was surprised at the detailed world he found himself in. He had been blind now for over ten years, and his <em>_dreams had faded in all that time from perfectly captured pictures to darkness accompanied by muffled __sound: that is, until now. His sight unnaturally restored in his dream, he found himself squinting in the brightness of the light— _

_Behind him he heard the sound of flapping wings, a rush of feathers, and darkness which quelled the light, replacing it with shades of lamp black and charcoal gray._

"_Itachi," Sasuke muttered, even though his lips did not move._

_Sasuke heard gentle laughter, echoing hollowly throughout the hillside and mingling with the noise of the rushing creek. It was an oddly liquid sound._

_Sasuke continued speaking as he spun around to face his brother, "It's been—some time."_

_In fact, Sasuke swore that it had been years since he had a lucid dream like this—and it had been just as many years since Itachi had come into his dreams. Some part of his mind, still awake despite his dreaming state, noted that the two phenomena seemed to be interconnected. As he faced his brother, Sasuke perceived how each line of Itachi's face seemed etched with a fine tipped pen, drawn with ink as dark as a night without moon or stars._

_Itachi nodded silently to Sasuke's greeting. His long black hair became unbound in that motion, and flowed around his head as if suspended in water; his locks formed arabesques, surrounding Itachi like a dark halo. The elder Uchiha turned away from his brother and walked to the babbling creek with slow, deliberate strides, seeming almost to float over the rolling grass. He procured a silver bowl from the folds of his black cloak, then dipped the vessel into the creek. He returned to where Sasuke was standing with the same erie floating quality to his stride, and held out the bowl full of clear water in front of Sasuke._

"_Look," Itachi's voice rang like a hammer hitting hard metal, echoing painfully inside Sasuke's skull. As if transfixed, Sasuke edged closer to the bowl and peered inside—_

_The water swirled and flashed in the light's brilliance, silver shining like a thousand suns. Sasuke blinked— the light dissolved into thick, paste-like darkness, and he found himself standing on a murky steppe, barren save for small patches of brown grass and dried thistles. In the center was a large pile of corpses, putrescent, the forms of individual bodies indistinguishable from the greater mass of limbs protruding from the heap. From the wreckage a spider the size of a small house emerged; it wove a web around the carnage, a thick, gauze-like blanket that soon enshrouded the mound. When its work was done, the spider blinked a myriad of glassy eyes at once and looked up at Sasuke, its eyes and fangs gleaming metallically in the darkness._

_The arachnid blinked again, focusing its multi-faceted gaze on Sasuke once more before advancing towards him on its long, hairy legs. When it was only a breath away from Sasuke, the creature's dark eyes swirled with crimson and cadmium, whorling to reveal three dark commas on a field of blood, __mirrored a thousand times in a thousand different eyes—_

_Suddenly, the space shifted. Darkness dissolved back into light, and Sasuke found himself in the original bright grassy clearing once more, his brother beside him. Itachi, birdlike, blinked down at his younger brother. The silver bowl was still in Itachi's hand, but now it was empty of any water. Itachi threw it up into the air where it transformed into a field of crows, their cries filling the sky like falling snow. Likewise, Itachi's body also dissolved into innumerable black wings, turning the bright clearing dark once more under the weight of black feathers._

_And as the dream began to fade, and Sasuke returned to consciousness, Itachi's final words rang in his mind like an echo trapped in a deep canyon—_

"_He's coming..." _

When Sasuke finally woke, blinking blindly at the sunlight streaming in through the window, he fought in vain to forget the darkness.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke groaned and stiffly extracted himself from the waiting room chair he had fallen asleep in. "Hmmm?"

"It's morning_—_are you okay?"

"Hn." Sasuke rubbed his aching back and stood, willing himself to forget the disquieting dream. "Is Yuki awake?"

Sakura made a face. "She has just returned from visiting the Uzumakis..."  
>"She's returned? As in, she left the hospital?"<p>

Sakura nodded.

"Well. At least she's feeling better?"

She laughed bitterly before replying, "Yuki said that Naruto-kun wanted to see you. He's in his office now. Yuki-chan is sleeping again, so she won't miss you."

"Okay." He stretched his aching back with a grimace.

Sakura gave him a peck on the cheek and funneled some healing chakra into his back, to which he murmured his thanks. The healing chakra was a drop in the bucket though; Sasuke's whole body felt like it had been dragged through the Forest of Death and back. Though he supposed that truly, it was the weight of death itself that crushed him, that made every fiber in his body scream with pain and weariness; it was a feeling he had grown accustomed to as a youngster, after his family had been murdered; and it was a sensation he would not recover from, no matter how much healing Sakura gave him.

Sakura seemed to sense his lachrymose state; she offered, with false mirth, "If you can't sense it, I'm winking at you."

Sasuke's mouth turned upwards in a hollow smile. "I know." He kissed the top of her head, then enfolded her in his arms; he held her for a long time, longer than usual. He did not often fancy embracing her in public, but at the moment, he didn't seem to care.

"See you later. Sakura." He finally released his wife and then slowly made his way out of the hospital. Sakura looked after his retreating form, her lips pressed together anxiously, before striding off in the opposite direction down the long, white hallway.

The morning light was painfully bright; Sasuke adjusted the scarf covering his eyes, then ran a hand through his tangled hair before striding towards the Hokage's tower. And then, because he hadn't slept in quite sometime besides the contorted nap in a hard wooden chair, he headed towards the newspaper kiosk to purchase a caffeinated beverage.

"One large coffee, please."

"Nice outfit there, Uchiha-san."

Sasuke, startled, realized that he was still wearing his hippie hobo rags from his ill-fated mission with the 'Traveling Stardust Experience.' "Um...thanks. Keep the change," Sasuke mumbled as he handed the vendor a bill and received a cup of coffee in exchange. He gulped down the warm, bitter liquid, then leapt from roof-top to roof-top, hoping it was too early for anyone else to catch a glimpse of him in his quasi-Halloween-costume. Because besides the harrowing mission he had just returned from and his lack of sleep, he was not in the mood for snide comments.

Finally, he dropped himself down in front of the Hokage's tower and entered. There was no snickering as he glided through the halls. Unlike the civilian population of Konoha, the ninja here were all too aware of the tragedy that had befallen their leader the night before. His outfit went unnoticed, but he had a hard time feeling grateful for this fact. Sasuke tried to ignore the all-encompassing ambiance of anguish as he opened the door to Naruto's office.

For a moment, Sasuke silently stood in the entrance; Naruto was gazing out of the window, lost in his own thoughts. Nearby Shikamaru, his arms crossed, stared down at the ground, as if his eyes could drill a pair of holes through the floorboards. Sasuke shuffled his feet and coughed.

"Good morning, Sasuke-san. Have a seat," Shikamaru intoned, gesturing towards the vacant leather chair next to his. The sound of the Nara's voice startled Naruto out of his reverie; he jumped slightly, then swiveled in his chair to regard his visitor. For a moment, no one spoke.

Sasuke barely repressed a sigh before offering, "You wanted to see me, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "I've been advised by my counsel that it... It would be beneficial to the village if you would accept an eye transplant...from...from..." his voice broke at that, and he was unable to complete his thought.

Sasuke covered his mouth in horror. "What?"

Shikamaru leaned forward and reiterated, "It is likely that the village will soon be under attack, and we need every available fighter to be ready. You'd be more of an asset if we could transplant Ryuu's eyes..."

Sasuke's stomach lurched, the acidic coffee not helping the feeling of dread curdling his guts. "No. No. Ah...no."

His normally stoic mind reeled from cognitive dissonance. Was this someone's idea of a sick, morbid joke? A superstitious part of himself mused that he should have never made that wish on a shooting star for the return of his sight. _Be careful what you wish for, isn't that what they say? Because it might just come true._ Sasuke shook his head, partially in disbelief, and partially to dispel the idiotic thoughts crowding his head.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the Uchiha's inelegant phrasing and was about to speak himself, but Naruto waved towards his chief of intelligence to stall him. Naruto looked directly at his former teammate; Sasuke could feel the intensity of the gaze boring into him, despite the fact that he couldn't actually see it.

"Sasuke. The safety of the village aside... Do this for me."  
>"What?" Sasuke asked again in quiet shock, as if he couldn't quite believe his pitch-perfect ears.<p>

Naruto nodded and continued, "Please. For me. I want to see him live on— through you. I'm being selfish...I know. Please. Just do it. For me."

"I— I can't...Naruto..."

"Please, Sasuke." The Hokage said it in such a quiet, pleading voice, it made Sasuke's stomach clench.

Sasuke hung his head and rubbed his aching temples. "Can I...think about it? Kami, I don't even know if it's _physically_ possible!"

Shikamaru broke in, "The sooner we do the operation, the more likely that it will be a success. We've already...had the eyes removed. They are ready...when you are. Additionally, Sakura confirms that your damaged optical nerves should have healed sufficiently for her to do the operation, although it will still be delicate work."

Sasuke's head snapped up at that. He sucked in a breath. "Sakura...?"

Shikamaru repeated slowly, as if he were speaking to a small child, "Sakura confirms that your nerves have healed sufficiently to handle a transplant."

_Sakura—wait—no! How could you? When did you...?_

Naruto nodded before standing in front of the Uchiha, placing a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke covered it with his own and looked up, blindly, at the Hokage.

"I would like for you to do it...as soon as possible," Naruto whispered.

Sasuke's breath caught in his throat. How could he refuse the wishes of the dead boy's father? How could he refuse _Naruto,_ Naruto who had believed in him unwaveringly, drawing Sasuke back from the edge of madness through the sheer force of his fiery will? Naruto, whom he abandoned and tried to _murder_ several times; Naruto, who had loved him selflessly, who had only ever wanted Sasuke—the one person he thought of as a brother— to be happy. While Sasuke himself had never been anything but a burden, hardly a brother, let alone much of a friend. Sasuke owed _everything_ to this man.

What if their positions had been reversed, and Sasuke was offering Yuki's eyes to a blind Naruto? He shuddered at the thought. _Yuki... _All at once, his weariness, guilt, and sorrow came crashing down on him, and he was too tired to argue. He didn't have that kind of hubris anymore, to deny his friends their own conceptions of generosity. _If this brings Naruto even some shred of happiness—Kami knows I fucking owe it to him..._

"I_—_I'll do it if you really want me to. For you. But I have one condition."

Naruto nodded listlessly. "Anything."

"I want_—_I want you to finally put the death seal on me." Sasuke's mouth was set in a thin line of determination; Shikamaru hissed in surprise at the socially inappropriate response.

Naruto paled, and his fingernails dug into the flesh of Sasuke's shoulder. "I don't have the strength to argue with you, or to convince you as to why that is a ridiculous request. So I'll just say yes, as long...as long as Sakura holds the key to the seal."

Sasuke shook his head in disbelief and replied, sotto voce, "You really want me to_—_have his eyes...?"

Naruto nodded. "I do." A few pale tears fell from the Hokage's eyes.

Sasuke sighed sharply, and it seemed to him that all his strength left his body along with the gust of air expelled from his lungs. "Okay. When do you want...?"

Shikamaru exhaled slowly. "Right now works."

"If this is really what you want, Naruto. I'll do it...for you." Sasuke rose out of the leather chair stiffly.

Naruto forced himself to grin, though it came out looking more like a grimace of pain. "Yes. Let's go."

* * *

><p><em>an hope you enjoyed the chappy; it took _forever_ to write!_

_Please let me know your thoughts via a review:) What was your favorite part?  
><em>


	19. Chapter 19: Sight

_a/n OMG, this chapter was a beast to write, an absolute beast; and if it hadn't been for **Uchiha.S**, my fan-fucking-tastic beta, it would have been fanfic diarrhea, I swear! So you can all thank her for the fact that this chapter isn't complete poop, lol. *Bows to Uchiha.S's amazingness*_

_So thanks to my beta-roony, and to all my wonderful readers out there in cyber space._

_Things are heating up in my private life: I have a lot of work coming my way, including house hunting. I will do my best to update every 1-2 weeks; as I find writing fanfic stress relieving (and I'm under a lot of stress!), you probably won't have to wait too much longer than that! You know me, I hate to pull myself away from this story. _

_Anyway, y'all are the best readers ever. Thanks. And I promise, we won't be in angst land for too long: the action resumes shortly. :P_

* * *

><p>Chapter 19: <strong>Sight<strong>

_She sighed, "My home has vanished in fire and smoke,_

_My family is all dead;_

_Your death won't bring them back,_

_You would mark just one more among the dead."_

_~The Second Book of Akash, Verse VI_

"You want me to_ what!_"

"Sakura—"

"Why would you want that fucking death seal— at a time like _now_? Do you realize how inappropriate this is?" she barked, gesturing frantically towards Naruto**,** who was lurking like a shadow in the doorway.

Sasuke sighed like a man who had been wounded. "Naruto... Give us a moment?"

The Hokage stiffly nodded, then wordlessly exited the room. Sakura stalked forward and hissed, "Sasuke. Naruto is offering you a gift—"

"I never asked—"

"Don't be ungrateful—"

He shouted, "I never wanted to give up Itachi's eyes!" Sucking in a deep breath, he muttered more quietly, "But I'll do it for Naruto. Okay?" He held out his hands, palms up in defeat, silently begging her to understand.

Sakura exhaled sharply. "I'm sorry. I haven't had enough sleep and Ryuu—" she seemed to deflate at that and stopped, as if the words were too painful to say aloud. "And I..." Sakura, trailing off once more, sat down at on the desk and cradled her head in her hands. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke yawned and sat down in an empty chair across from his wife. "Me too..." He rubbed his aching head and ventured, "You knew—all along. My eyes...for years—"

"Yeah." She sat up straight and looked down at Sasuke, her eyes rimmed with red and stinging from unshed tears.

Sasuke shook his head. All those nights Sakura had massaged his broken eyes, joking that it would help relieve his tension headaches—for years now, she had secretly healed his optical nerves so that if a proper donor came... Sasuke shuddered, not wanting to complete that grotesque thought. _But you knew, didn't you, Sasuke? You could feel the chakra coming off of her hands in small waves_—_but you didn't say anything. _Sasuke mentally berated himself for being implicit in his own unraveling. And it felt heavy, to know that his former teammates had been prepping him, without his consent, for _this_. Sasuke didn't know what was more amazing: the fact that Sakura had healed him without his explicit knowledge, or that a they hadn't shoved new eyes into his head before today.

"Why didn't you...?"**  
><strong>"Why didn't I tell you? Because, it was a fucking top secret mission!" She huffed and ran a hand through her tangled pink locks, ripping out a few strands in frustration. "Listen, Sasuke-kun..." Sakura rose heavily from her desk to perch on the arm of his chair. She rubbed his back with a cold hand, and Sasuke suppressed the urge to shiver. "Is Itachi—is he the reason why you wouldn't let me fix your sight, all those years ago?"

They had never really discussed the subject—it had been taboo—but the upcoming transplant had opened Pandora's box.

Sasuke took a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm. "It's one of the reasons. These broken eyes are all I have left...of my brother."

Sakura nodded slowly. "But you knew—all these years, when I worked on your eyes—"

"You said it would help my headaches," Sasuke snapped.

Sakura nodded. "Yes. But you must have suspected—"

"Damn it Sakura!" He punched the desk in front of him, causing the wood to splinter. "I never thought— Why wouldn't you be honest with me?" His voice came out as a whine, and he cursed himself for sounding like a petulant child

Sakura bit her lower lip. "I only _recently _completed the mending of your optical nerves. Just a few days before you left, really. And I was _going_ to broach the subject with you, when you came back from your mission..."

_Well, that would explain why some deceased ninja's eyeballs hadn't been pried out of their cold skull before now, _Sasuke thought bitterly before retorting, "You should have told me at the very beginning!"

"Naruto told me to keep it a secret, until I had fully healed you! Then you could have decided if you wanted a transplant or not..."

"You do everything Naruto says?"

Sakura shook her head, her teeth clenched. "You do when it's a signed, stamped, official mission from the mother fucking Hokage!" She took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing, "And besides... I wanted you to be able to see again. And you're so damned stubborn! Sasuke, I knew if I came right out and said it, you'd just say _no_."

_So instead you went behind my back?_ Though in truth, she had done it all right in front of his eyes; he would have laughed at the irony if the situation hadn't been so miserable. Sasuke leaned his face into his clammy palms. On the one hand, he felt completely betrayed. On the other, Sakura was right—if asked, he never would have given his consent for the healing. _Ever_. He let out the breath of air he hadn't realized he had been holding, before whispering, "I don't know what to say."

"Didn't you know, Sasuke—"

He suspired sharply and replied, "I suppose I did. But I never wanted..." _Ryuu's eyes..._ The unspoken thought rang in the silence between them. After a moment, he coughed. "How did you know I wanted to see again?"

Sakura draped an arm around him. "It was the little things: the way you'd touch the family photographs on the mantle, even though you couldn't see them. When you'd ask me to describe what the shooting stars looked like before you made a wish."

"And Naruto?"

"I could have denied the mission. He didn't really force me. But I…I _wanted_ to heal you! And we both agreed—"

"You both agreed—without _me_," he breathed, the phrase lacking any acrid bite. For the second time that day, one of his former teammates had offered him an exceptionally generous gift without his consent; while it made him livid, he also felt like he had no right to complain: not after everything. He shook his head, because he knew he didn't deserve any of it, and at the same time, it made him extremely uncomfortable and irritable to accept.

"You knew, Sasuke. I _know_ that you did." Sakura rubbed his back again as she sensed his attitude softening. "You said that originally, you didn't want your sight healed because of Itachi's eyes..."

"Hn."

"But what about the other reasons?"

Sasuke grimaced and leaned his head on his wife's stomach; he never could get anything past her acute mind. "I didn't deserve to see. I didn't trust myself with the power of sight. After everything I did...when I had the sharingan..."

They were quiet for a while; Sakura ran her hands through his soft hair, deep in thought. Finally, she ventured, "And now—you still don't—which is why you want us to place the death seal on you."

"I still don't what? You lost me." Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose; he was too tired to follow her convoluted line of reasoning.

"Hmm. You still don't think you are deserving or trustworthy."

Sasuke nodded. "Maybe so. In any event, I have a bad feeling about everything that's going on. And I never want to hurt _any_ of you ever again. Please Sakura, just _trust_ me on this one. I'll feel a lot better if you place the death seal on me."

Sakura snorted and replied with false mirth, "You know, most people wouldn't be reassured to have a seal o' death placed on them. You are such a weirdo."

"Hn." Her morbid sense of humor left his guts feeling cold and twisted.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well, considering that I've tried to kill you numerous times and never had the balls to do it, I guess it's a safe enough request. If it _really_ makes you feel better..."

"Don't patronize me. And yes, it does make me feel better," he snapped.

"Gah. Insufferable man. Fine. Have it your way."

Sasuke smiled sadly and rose to kiss his wife on the cheek. "Thank you, Sakura."

Sakura smiled, but even without sight, he could tell it was forced. "Idiot. Call Naruto back in here; let's have him get this ridiculous sealing over with so I can put some eyeballs in your head," she replied, feigning amusement.

Sasuke really didn't want to continue their line of conversation, but there was one more matter of business he wanted taken care of.

"Sakura?"

"Hmm?"

"I want... I want you to put Itachi's eyes in a bag for me—after you remove them. We'll give them a proper burial; since Itachi never had one."

Sakura made a face, and making light of his comment, replied, "That's kind of weird. But sweet. Okay. Do you want paper or plastic?"

"Tch. I'm serious."

"And I'm half-delirious from no sleep."

While he knew his wife had difficulty processing too many heavy emotions at once, he wished that she could have been more supportive at that moment. Because the stench of death and coagulated blood and sorrow burned his breath, the air of the hospital was thick and nauseating, and he felt like the threads of his bones might unravel at any minute. Though his friends were foisting priceless gifts at his feet, he felt alone and broken.

He exhaled softly, knowing that she was only escaping her own grief through morbid humor as she was wont to do; he retorted in turn, "Um...is it safe to do a surgery while you're half-delirious?"

Sakura punched him playfully in the arm and intoned in the all-knowing voice of a physician, "You'll be _fine,_ you big baby. Now get Naruto."

Sasuke nodded, not at all relieved by their routine yet forced banter, and rose to get the Hokage.

* * *

><p>Yuki woke suddenly; she could tell from the golden light filtering in through her hospital window that it was early afternoon. <em>Was it all a dream? Is Ryuu really dead? Did I really just tell the Hokage his son's last words?<em> She shook her head, but the movement was painful. It seemed that her injuries were finally catching up to her, now that her rush of adrenaline had abated.

She really could have used a painkiller at that moment.

"Yuki?"

Yuki exhaled and focused her bleary eyes on the intruder in her room. "Saki. What are you doing here?"

Saki crossed her arms, as if she were cold despite the warm summer afternoon. "Someone's got to keep tabs on you!"

"Where's mom? Dad?"

Saki nibbled her lower lip before replying, "Takeo is with Aunty Ino. I got tired of being baby-sat though, and I couldn't handle being at Hoshiko's place either...so..."

Yuki would have rolled her eyes, but decided against it, since her eyes were pretty sore— just like the rest of her pathetic body. "Saki. Answer my question."

The younger Uchiha sighed; she never had been good at evading Yuki's questions. "Mom's doing surgery."

"And dad?"**  
><strong>"Um… Is having surgery done."

"Oh. I didn't realize he was injured. Is he...?"

Saki worried her lower lip with her teeth again. "He's fine."

Yuki narrowed her eyes and sat up in bed, her suspicions mounting. She casually reached for the plastic cup of water by her bedside and murmured, before taking a sip, "There's something you aren't telling me."

Saki bit her lip and this time drew blood. "You'll find out when he comes out of surgery."

"Saki. Tell me."

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "Mom told me to take your vitals once you woke up." Saki got out of her chair warily, as if Yuki could pounce on her at any minute—never mind that Yuki felt like complete _ass_ and didn't have the wherewithal to swat a fly, let alone attack a ninja.

Without removing her eyes from her older sister, Saki applied chakra-enhanced hands upon Yuki's arm. She let out a low whistle. "You really fucked up your shoulder."

"Language."

"Sorry." Saki had the decency to blush before taking a cursory inspection of the rest of Yuki's body. "Looks like you had a rough time—"

"Hn."

Ignoring the curt response, Saki continued in a hushed tone, "I'm so glad that you're okay, Yuki."

One corner of Yuki's mouth turned upwards in a lopsided smile. "Thanks, Saki-chan."

Saki made a face– "You can't just tack on a 'chan' to the end of my name if I can't use it on you, too!"

Yuki grinned fully, despite herself, and pulled her sister into a short, somewhat awkward hug. "Double standards. They are a big sister's prerogative."

Saki rolled her eyes and retreated from the uncharacteristic display of sisterly affection. "You're such a dork. Like I would buy that crap."

"Hn."

Saki shook her head. "Can I get you anything? Are you hungry?"

"Sure. Anything remotely edible they have in the cafeteria will do."

Saki snorted and scurried out of the room, closing the door gently behind her. Yuki, still sitting up in bed, crossed her arms in thought. _Saki is usually not one to keep secrets; Kami, she's the biggest blabbermouth I know. So it should be easy to get her to tell me what is going on. I just need to think of the right approach... _But before she could contemplate further, the door opened again. "That was quick."

"Stealth and speed are the most essential tools of a ninja," Saki droned. "Hope you like peas and carrots with rice, that's all they had. Um, and apple juice and a pudding cup, but all they had left was vanilla, which I think tastes like shit—"

"Language."

Saki rolled her eyes. "Which I think tastes _terrible._" The younger girl set out the goods on the tray; she watched her older sister with piercing eyes as Yuki pushed her food around on her plate.

"What?"

Saki blinked. "Nothing."

"You want to ask me a question. Obviously." Yuki began chewing her dry rice studded with mushy, overcook vegetables. _Man, this hospital food sucks..._

"I heard—is Ryuu—really?" Saki blurted.

Yuki swallowed her food, but despite her best efforts, bits of dry rice stuck to her esophagus. She took a sip of overly sweet apple juice and winced, pushing the tray of sub-par food aside.

"Yeah. He's really...gone." Yuki closed her eyes, the euphemism doing little to soften the effect of the words. _He's gone..._

"Oh..." Saki nervously twiddled her thumbs.

After a moment, Yuki blew out a stream of air from the side of her mouth. "I can hear you thinking Saki. It's hurting my brain," she replied in a monotone.

"I'm—so sorry!" Saki began to sniffle. "I mean—Hoshiko-chan already told me, but you were there, and I thought maybe…" _Maybe it wasn't true…_ The unspoken words hung in the air like cobwebs.

Yuki made a low, rumbling sound. _Time to change the topic of conversation. _Clearing her throat, Yuki ventured, "You want to see my sharingan?"

Saki's head snapped up at this. "Whoah, you activated it?"

Yuki nodded.

"Hell yeah I want to see," she replied, though Saki's voice lacked her usual enthusiasm.

"Tell me why it's such a big deal that dad's in surgery."

"It's—not—a—big—deal," Saki ground out.

"I can tell you're lying. Come on, it'll be like a trade."

Saki bit her lower lip, and her inner struggle was written plain as day on her face. Yuki suppressed the urge to snicker; right now, she would bet her best kunai that Saki was thinking that the only sharingan she had ever seen was Kakashi's; and since he wasn't a proper Uchiha, Saki was wondering if Yuki's official sharingan would be cooler. Saki's lips twisted in contemplation, and Yuki could practically hear her thinking:_Yeah…Yuki's sharingan is probably waaaaaay cooler. Oh maaaaaaan… _

Finally, Yuki offered, "Come on, we're sisters. You can tell me."

Suspiring slowly, Saki muttered, "Okay. But I want to see the sharingan _first_."

Smiling, Yuki closed her eyes and activated her eye's chakra network, despite the stabbing pain that ensued. When she opened them again, three dark commas danced on crimson irises.

Saki whistled. "You activated all three commas at once? Geez, what an overachiever..." But the younger Uchiha couldn't hide the awe in her voice.

"Your turn now," Yuki prodded, "what's the scoop."

Saki began chewing her lower lip again, an unsightly habit that she had never outgrown from childhood—a habit that originated from Sakura. "I overheard mom talking to Tsunade-sama. Dad's getting an eye transplant, but I wasn't supposed to know, so she told me to keep my mouth shut about it—so don't tell anyone, okay?"

Yuki blinked and deactivated her ocular jutsu. "Eye transplant?"

"Yeah. It's kind of cool I guess. But I don't know why it's such a big deal, or why I wasn't supposed to tell you—"

Yuki closed her eyes, mind whirling. _Why do the transplant _now_? Because a pair of eyes just became available. And if I'm not mistaken, Ryuu is the only ninja who's died recently. Which would explain why mom didn't want me to know! _"What. The. Fuck."

"Wha—"

"Saki. Help me get up. We're stopping this operation."

"What! What the–"

Yuki's eyes snapped open, her sharingan activated again, her hands clenched against the pain rebounding in her skull. "They're putting Ryuu eyes in his head! _Ryuu's eyes!_" Yuki gnashed her teeth and tried to raise herself out of bed.

"Yuki! Stop! You're going to rip your stitches again!" Saki, horrified, held Yuki's good shoulder down and scooped Yuki's legs up from the floor with her own, holding them down as well, until Yuki was pinned down on the hospital bed.

"Gah!" Wincing from Saki's strong grip, Yuki tried to squirm free but failed. While Yuki could usually beat Saki in a sparring match on a good day, this was certainly not a good day. Plus, Saki was extremely strong for her age. Yuki wouldn't expect anything less from her younger sister, but the utter frustration of having the adults going over her head was killing her, and so she continued to struggle against Saki's death grip, even though she knew it was futile.

"Dammit Yuki!" Saki shook tears out of her eyes, yelling, "You're going to get me in trouble!"

"Saki, let me go right now or I'm going to kill you!"

"Don't joke like that at a time like this!" Saki shouted, leveling her with a heated glare.

Yuki sighed at that, the fight all taken out of her quite suddenly. "Sorry." Yuki leaned back on the bed and ceased her struggling; she deactivated her doujutsu, but her pounding headache remained. _Damn._

Saki let her sister go and crossed her arms. "Listen Yuki-chan—we don't even know whose eyes are being transplanted. But even if you're _right_ about this—well, if Naruto wanted to give Ryuu's eyes to dad—that's up to him, isn't it?"

Yuki growled low in her throat, and ignoring the fact that Saki had just used an unsavory honorific after her name, replied, "Sorry. I guess I'm just kind of worked up. But I _still_ think it's fucked!"

Saki sat down with a huff and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Yeah. It is pretty…fucked." She placed a tentative hand on Yuki's good shoulder before whispering, "I'm sorry—I'm so sorry!" The pink haired girl began crying softly, her body shuddering with each breath.

Yuki exhaled noisily before pulling her sister down on the bed in a loose hug. "Yeah. Me too. I'm sorry— I didn't mean to be such an ass, overreacting and everything."

Saki sniffled and stilled her tears. "It's okay. You've had a rough couple of days."

"Tch. I'm fine."

They sat like that for a while, Yuki staring resolutely at the wall, willing herself to remain stoic, while she held a sniffling Saki, wiping snot on her dirty, damp sleeve. Finally Yuki closed her eyes and muttered through clenched teeth, "It's going to be hard to look at dad—with those eyes..."

Saki took a shaky breath and offered, "Let's just trust our parents and Naruto and Tsunade-baachan. I'm sure they're doing the right thing."

Yuki nodded. She took a deep breath and replied softly, "Thanks, baby sis."

"Don't call me that," Saki muttered, wrinkling her nose.

Yuki grinned and teased, "But it's so adorable."

Saki punched her older sister half-heartedly on her good shoulder. "Bah!" She looked up at Yuki and continued in a softer voice, "I just hope that everything is going to be okay."

"Everything is going to be fine—stop worrying," Yuki lied. Saki must have heard the dishonesty in her voice, because the pair just sat in stunned silence for a while, watching a flight of black birds through the open window.

"I just can't believe he's gone..." Saki whispered, leaning her head on her sister's shoulder, tears welling up anew.

Yuki nodded in silence, listening to the crows cawing outside.

* * *

><p>Choji bounced a giggling Takeo on his knee as Sora made funny faces at the toddler.<p>

"Blaaaa!" Sora cried as she pulled her lower eyelids down in her best zombie impression.

Takeo screamed with laughter.

Choji smiled sadly and gazed down at the young boy, lost in thought.

Choji had never fully forgiven Sasuke for murdering his father, Choza, in the last ninja war; in his opinion, Sasuke was a bit of a loose canon, a mentally unstable person, one not to be trusted. But here in his arms was a cherubic Uchiha Takeo. Choji sighed, and he supposed that Sasuke couldn't be all bad if his kids were this cute. Still, he found it easier to think of Yuki, Saki, and Takeo as _Sakura's_ children, as if Sasuke had nothing to do with it. Choji knew it was silly and immature of him, but it was the way he felt about it.

Choji was drawn out of his thoughts by the dark haired girl beside him gazing off into space and sniffling. "Oi, Hoshiko-chan, are you hungry?"

Startled, Hoshiko jumped at the question. "Um..."

Choji smiled and placed Takeo on the floor, who proceeded to pick up a piece of long-forgotten macaroni and commenced to chew. Choji did not know the middle child of Hinata and Naruto very well; she was a quiet girl who had spent most of her time with her big brother and her best friend, Uchiha Saki. She was a bit younger than his own daughter, and did not have much occasion to spend time with her—ergo the awkwardness in his kitchen. How was he supposed to comfort a youngster he hardly knew? "How about I make us all some sandwiches; then we can go to the park?"

The younger children squealed in delight while Hoshiko feigned a polite smile. Choji rose to find the peanut butter and jelly supplies, and he wished, not for the first time that day, that Ino could be here with him and the kids. Unfortunately, while it was Ino who had signed up for babysitting today, at the last minute Tsunade had ordered Ino to help question anyone connected with Gomakashi and the recently failed mission. Poor Hinata was busy with funeral arrangements, so Choji couldn't refuse. Still, he felt completely inept taking care of all the kids by himself.

Cho refused to leave her room, so Choji was left with the two younger mites and one quiet Hoshiko. The afternoon at the park was uneventful: Takeo and Sora ran laps around the playground while Hoshiko gazed sadly at the ground, her sandwich forgotten in her lap. Choji tried to speak with the girl a few times, but the effort was wasted. He was left to chew his tasteless sandwich in silence, contemplating the juxtaposition between the vivacious children careening around him and the mournful, slumped figures of himself and Hoshiko. The line between childhood and adulthood seemed thinner than ever for ninja. He wondered how much longer Sora and Takeo would be able to enjoy their blissful childhood ignorance, especially with war looming on the horizon.

A few hours later, the younger children seemed to run out of energy. Choji carried them in his arms, where they fell asleep in minutes. Hoshiko trudged behind him, feeding bits of her neglected sandwich to the pigeons in the street.

"Hey, Hoshiko."

Hoshiko threw down the last bit of bread into the gutter, where a pair of birds fought over it. The girl regarded him with pale, worn eyes. "Choji-san," she replied without inflection.

Choji ransacked his mind for words of comfort, but found none. So instead, he ventured, "Do you have a favorite flavor of ice cream?"

Hoshiko blinked. "Um..."

Choji continued gently, "I believe that a person's favorite ice cream flavor can reveal a lot about them. For example, my favorite flavor is peanut butter chocolate swirl. Can you guess what that says about me?"

The corners of Hoshiko's mouth turned up in a half grin. "I don't know..?"

"You see, chocolate makes people happy. When people are down—especially women, mind you—they turn to chocolate to cheer them up. So I'd say I'm a pretty kind and considerate person, based on my favorite ice cream flavor."

Hoshiko tapped her lips in thought. "But what about the peanut butter part?"

"Ah. You see, I also have a salty side: I don't like it when my friends are hurting, and I get mad when my friends are in danger. Together with the chocolate and the peanut butter, that makes me an especially considerate person."

Hoshiko nodded sagaciously. "Okay. Well, I like mint chocolate chip."

Choji winked. "You have a cool and calm personality. It's extremely hard to make you angry. And the chocolate, like we said, is a special sweetness that brings happiness and joy." He smiled down at the girl who blushed. Then, her features darkened again, and Choji despaired that he would ever cheer this little girl up. _Kami, I'm so stupid. Here this girl's older brother dies and I start babbling on about ice cream. Gah. So stupid, Choji!_

Finally, Hoshiko met his gaze and asked in barely audible voice, "Ryuu's favorite flavor was Rocky Road. So—what does that say about him?"

Choji breathed in slowly and replied, "Ah. There's nothing sweeter than Rocky Road ice cream. First of all, we have the chocolate factor, so that stands for sweetness and joy, as you already know. But then we have the crazy blend of almonds, walnuts, pecans, etcetera. This points to a kind of person who is always ready for fun; a spontaneous natured person who may also be a bit of a prankster."

At this, Hoshiko smiled. "Um...what about the marshmallows?"

"Ah! How could I forget the most important part!" Choji called in a theatrical voice, which caused Sora to stir gently on his arm. "Marshmallows are made from the marshmallow plant, an herb that soothes the throat when you're sick or the belly when you have a tummy ache. So marshmallow means that inside, the person has a soft spot—that is someone who is very good at soothing their friends when they're sad."

Hoshiko nodded. "Oh..."

They walked in amiable silence for a while, and Choji was hopeful that his puerile yet profound expostulations on the astrology of ice cream preferences had cheered the young Uzumaki. Finally, they reached the door to his house. Choji nodded for Hoshiko to open it, since his hands were full; the young one pursed her lips and asked, as she turned the doorknob, "Um...do you have any ice cream, Choji-san?"

Choji smiled. "Now that's a silly question. Of course I have ice cream."

Several minutes later, Cho came down the stairs to find two passed-out toddlers on the couch, and her father and Hoshiko eating Rocky Road ice cream straight out of the container.

"Cho-chan, you want some ice cream?" Hoshiko asked, her face smudged with chocolate.

Cho sighed and sat down at the kitchen table. "I'm...not really hungry." With jerky movements, she filled up a glass of water at the sink. She found a place at the table between Hoshiko and her father and sat down listlessly.

Choji took a spoonful and replied, quietly, "You sure Cho? It's quite good, and I'm afraid if you wait, Hoshiko and I will have finished the whole container by ourselves."

"It's okay." The older girl leaned her head in her hand and closed her eyes.

"Um...Cho-san...did you know that this was Ryuu-kun's favorite flavor?" Hoshiko offered in a soft, apprehensive voice.

Cho's eyes fluttered open. "Mmmm."

Just as tears welled up in Cho's eyes, Hoshiko smiled softly, loaded a spoon up with ice cream, and promptly shoved it in Cho's mouth. Choji guffawed, while Cho almost choked. Left with little choice, the older girl swallowed.

There was a moment of silence before Cho took the spoon out of her mouth and dug into the container for a second round.

Hoshiko giggled, "Hey, you just stole my spoon!"

"You're the one who shoved it in my mouth." She took another bite of ice cream and stuck out a chocolatey tongue at Hoshiko, who commenced to laughing hysterically. Soon, all of them were laughing and trying not to snort their ice cream. The ruckus woke up Sora and Takeo, who promptly demanded spoons of their own.

Choji smiled to himself; while his kitchen was besmirched with chocolate and the children were getting hyper from sugar, he considered this a mission well done.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was led by his wife to the operating room, like a condemned man following his executioner to the gallows. His hospital gown was drafty in the back, and the paper chafed the skin on his chest. Sakura strapped on a pair of gloves that made a sickening, snapping rubber sound. Trying to make light of the situation, she called, "Make yourself comfortable, hon. This won't take long." It was the kind of thing she often said while she was fixing her hair in the morning and hogging the bathroom, or when she was busy making them Sunday morning brunch but her inept cooking skills made the preparations take forever. Sasuke winced. This was no casual moment to be taken so lightly; but he remained silent.<p>

He approached the cold operating table with ginger movements and sat down; he was hunched over, his legs swinging off the end an inch from the ground. Sakura held something to his face; it felt plastic and tacky against his skin. "Just breath, this is the sleeping gas. It'll knock you right out." Sasuke tried to hold his breath, like a cranky child, before his lungs betrayed him and he took a deep breath.

Sakura laughed softly. "Don't worry, you'll be high as a kite soon and you won't feel...a...thing..."

Sakura's voice trailed off into the pink oblivion that was the anesthesia. For a moment, it felt like his body was being held in a soft vat of cotton candy. Bright light streaked his mind, and then he was flying up above his body, above the hospital, above the village, shaking hands with the circling stars and planets as if he were running for president of the universe and was pandering to his heavenly constituents. Everything was vibrating and hazy and painfully bright all at once; he felt like a fish that had been hatched in an aquarium, swimming happy laps around his tiny kingdom— plastic castle, plastic coral, plastic aquatic plants– until his owner decided to pour out his glass bowl into the vast, unknowable ocean.

He couldn't decide if the sky was like an ocean and he was a fish, or if the milky way was the air and his arms were wings. In any event, his movements were fluid as he made his way past an assortment of planets, whirling with all their moons in tow, all worshiping the sun in silent, slow revolutions. As he traveled, the distances between the heavenly bodies increased until finally, he made his way to the most remote and cold planet. Some part of his mind told him it was Pluto, while a logical voice in his head told him that Pluto was not actually a planet at all. Regardless, something compelled him to land on its surface, despite his mounting fear at this prospect.

Everything came to him in vivid details, like the old dreams with Itachi: the face of the world was pale blue and silver; the sandy dunes simultaneously sparkled on one side while deep, penetrating darkness resided in its valleys. It seemed to him that the sands swirled, even though there was no wind, and then he was sinking down beneath the sands, into the heart of darkness. The cold stole the strength from his chattering teeth and froze the hopeless pumping of blood in his veins; the beating of his heart stilled. Everything turned dark, monolithic, ultramarine, and desperate as nonsensical images and sounds flashed before him:

A man shrouded in spider webs, his facial features obscured by the gauze-like cocoon.

Sakura's carved bone comb on the vanity, a few pink strands caught in the narrow teeth; they wavered in a wind he did not feel.

A pair of eyes, sharingan spinning, only to stop dead, three commas fixed in violent precision: staring right at him.

Takeo's childish laughter ringing like tiny bells, though Takeo himself was nowhere to be seen; there was only darkness until he felt—

The cold steel of a knife held tightly in his hand, the designs of the hilt embossing themselves onto his palm.

And then were spiders, millions of miniscule arachnids scurrying and covering Sasuke's freezing body, until his flesh was obscured under their black, writhing forms. And from the dark convergence, a web was formed, and the myriad creatures morphed into one large tarantula-esque monster. Sasuke's body was gone, ensconced in a web. He understood, then: the web was a shroud, and the spiders were the keepers of his ancestral catacomb.

When his body disappeared, only the arachnid remained, her fangs glowing crimson in the cool, cobalt light.

And then he knew no more.

* * *

><p><em>an Just a few quick questions for you guys. Are you liking the chapter length? Should I keep them this long, or should I go back to shorter chapters?_

_Also, what was your favorite part? Do you have any constructive criticism?_

_Last, for some reason the formatting has been off with the site. If you see a typo, please let me know! FF Net has been taking great pleasure in eating whole words and bits of sentences; I've gone back through this chapter with a fine tooth comb, but if you see anything amiss, please let me know. I despise typos!  
><em>

_Let me know via your review—it will really help me a lot!_

_Thanks so much! And see you soon:)  
><em>


	20. Chapter 20: Another Man's Tears

_a/n Hi friends! And welcome back. _

_**Thanks so much for all your wonderful reviews and PM's; they are what keep me updating every week:)**_

_Special thanks to **Uchiha.S**, my beta and muse; thanks for everything:)_

* * *

><p>Chapter 20<p>

**Another Man's Tears**

_I shook and cried, "It could have been I_

_Who killed your mother and dad,_

_Who set fire to your house and fields_

_And destroyed all you ever had."_

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse VII_

Shikamaru took the stack of scrolls from Tsunade's desk and made his way to the Hokage monument. Naruto was right exactly where Shikamaru thought he would be—directly on top of the Fourth Hokage's sculpted head. Forcing chakra into the soles of his feet, Shikamaru became a dark blur as he sped up the mountainside.

Naruto didn't acknowledge the Nara as he approached. Instead, the Hokage lay on his back, gazing upwards at the clouds. Shikamaru fully appreciated the irony of the situation: while he himself was running around like a chicken without a head, here Naruto was enjoying the slow dance of the clouds moving across the dome of the sky—not that he could blame the man. Shikamaru sighed and sat down heavily next to the Hokage, waiting for the him to speak first.

After a few full moments of silence, Naruto finally drawled, "You know, Shikamaru, I think I see what you see in these clouds."

Shikamaru smirked in spite of himself. Carefully weighing down his stack of papers with a large rock, he sprawled out on his back to join Naruto in gazing at the clouds. "So..."

Naruto closed his eyes. "I feel like a fraud."

Shikamaru raised one eyebrow and turned his head towards the Hokage.

"Naruto—"

"How can people expect me to protect this village? I can't even protect my own son—I'm an utter failure." His voice wasn't bitter, or angry, but was mind-numbingly sad; Shikamaru winced as if he had been punched in the gut.

His so-called genius brain whirled, attempting to find the right thing to say, but couldn't think of a single thing. The two lay in silence, looking up at the carefree forms of the clouds, each lost in their own thoughts. Finally, Shikamaru managed, "Naruto. You can't blame yourself—"

Naruto chuckled darkly at this. "Just let me be, Shikamaru. Today let me say self-deprecating things; tomorrow is the funeral. The day afterwards I'll suck it up and go back to being the Hokage. Speaking of which—you brought me some bullshit to sign?"

Shikamaru winced. "Tsunade is lowering the graduation age at the academy. If there's a war, we'll need every hand we can get. Of course, they'll still have to pass the test…"

Naruto scowled and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "She's right," he muttered, "but I hate it. I feel like I'm sending other people's kids to their deaths." Exhaling sharply, he muttered, "That's all I do as the bloody Hokage; send children to their untimely deaths."

Shikamaru felt something akin to lead settle in his stomach. He took out a pack of cigarettes and began methodically tapping them on his wrist. _Damn it. I can think of brilliant, innovating tactical strategies from dusk till dawn; I can outwit any opponent, aside from Temari, on the Shogi board; but I can't think of one fucking thing to say right now. Talk about frauds._ He lit his cigarette with a grimace and offered one to the Hokage, who moved as if to decline, but in the end took the proffered tobacco. Naruto coughed on his first inhalation, but afterwards got the hang of it.

Naruto exhaled smoke slowly. "Is your son going to graduate here?" he asked.

Shikamaru was startled at the change in topics. Nevertheless, he mastered his surprise before replying. "Gaara will probably be disappointed, but he knows that I'm needed here. Though it looks like Temari will be heading back to the Sand to deliver some messages—and I'm not sure if she will return." Shikamaru took another inhalation of smoke; having dual citizenship could be such a drag. He wasn't looking forward to remaining in the Leaf without her expert advice, but politics were politics; things being what they were, her brother would probably want her to stay and advise the Sand.

"But your son, Hayato?" Naruto ventured.

"Like I said, he'll stay by me. I think the Leaf could use him more than the Sand if shit hits the fan. More kids his age here, anyway." Shikamaru winced after he said that last thoughtless statement; it was inconsiderate to mention other children at the moment. Desperately looking for a way to change the topic, Shikamaru took a drag of his cigarette, brows furrowed in thought. "If it means anything to you, I think you're the best Hokage this village has ever had," he offered at last.

Naruto snorted and turned away. "Allow me to explain," Shikamaru pressed on. "All the previous Hokages were preoccupied with war and enhancing our military strength. You're the first leader who has focused on creating and maintaining peacetime, putting our ninja and our technology towards non-violent applications. It's a huge achievement."

"Thanks for the confidence boost, but I don't think I'm in the mood."

Shikamaru took another long, languid breath of smoke. "I'm merely offering you my objective opinion. My point is this: to show you your weakness. You've gotten too accustomed to peacetime, and anyway, you are a leader more suited to peacetime. You have brilliant ideas when it comes to textile production and expansion of trade routes, but when it comes to war–to having your friends and family threatened–that's when you are apt to loose your ability to stay rational."

Naruto exhaled sharply. "What are you getting at?"

"I'll come straight to it then. First of all, trust your staff and your people. We'll support you all we can through this phase."

"And second?" Naruto muttered, as he stubbed out his half-finished cigarette.

Shikamaru mouth twitched upwards in a half-smile; Naruto was used to how he numbered his thought processes in an orderly, predictable fashion. After all, they had been working together for over a decade. "Second of all, the fault in this instance lies with all of us. As your top strategical adviser, I didn't do enough background checks. The ANBU should have been more suspicious of newcomers to the village. And on and on it goes. We've all gotten soft from peacetime, but I think if we can keep it together, no one else will have to die. Have faith in your personnel, Hokage-sama."

Naruto took a deep breath, his lungs aching from smoke. "The rational part of me—the Hokage part of me—knows that you're right, that we just have to keep trying harder. But the other part of me is just an ordinary man who has lost his son." Naruto paused and blinked up blankly at the sky. "So. Please let me sign these papers, so I can go back to being an ordinary man again."

Wordlessly, Shikamaru handed the papers to Naruto. Naruto perused the documents quickly, signing one after the other in rapid succession: however, when he reached the last one, he paused. He handed them all back to Shikamaru abruptly, with the unsigned document on top. "As for alerting the other Kages and our secret operatives in other countries about the current developments, as well as for the accelerated graduations from the academy, I agree. But tell Baachan that there is no need to send the ANBU out to the Akash mountains. I will undertake that mission myself—after the funeral."

Shikamaru blinked at the Hokage stupidly, his cigarette singeing his unmoving fingers as it burned down: he stifled the urge to swear. "I don't think that is wise, Hokage-sama," he stated evenly.

"I don't care. I want to be the one who finds out what, exactly, happened to my son."

Shikamaru let out a long, steady stream of smoke. He could sense that there was no use arguing with Naruto in his current state. He bit back another curse and mumbled, "Yes sir, Hokage-sama."

"Shikamaru?"

"Yes?"

"Please. Just Naruto, right now. And...thank you."

Shikamaru smiled ruefully. "No problem." The Nara snubbed out his stub of a cigarette in a pile of ash and rose, leaving Naruto to contemplate the clouds from atop his father's stone head.

* * *

><p><em>Sasuke swore he spent an eternity entombed in the freezer of drugged slumber, but at long last, the darkness lifted. He found himself in the usual grassy clearing, where the sun seemed to shine from all sides. A flock of crows appeared, the familiar convergence of black feathers metamorphosing into his brother.<em>

_Itachi regarded him coolly, sharingan spinning like a windmill in a breeze. "He's coming—be careful." _

_Sasuke blinked, and Itachi was gone, his exit not even marked by a single feather or bird call._

_Sasuke's mind was whirling—Who was coming? How should he be careful?—but then he felt himself lifted up, a feeling like floating up from the bottom on the sea into the bright, airy surface. Someone was whispering his name—_

"Sasuke?"

He groaned, fragments of fevered dreams tumbling around in his head.

Sakura placed a cool towel on his head. When he sat up in the hospital bed, she murmured, "You can open your eyes now..."

He did so, one eye at a time. Sakura had turned off all the cruel florescent lights in the operating room, but the thin oranges of twilight came stealing in from the westward window, pale cadmium illumination offset with cobalt shadows. He blinked. _So this is what it is like to see again. Everything looks so—alive. So alive..._ And at that thought, he choked on the irony—it was only through another's death that new life had come into his eyes. But at that moment, the mental lecture on his own unworthiness faded; every mundane detail in the room took on heightened, electrified beauty. Any thinking on his part was superfluous and dull compared to the animate light.

He turned his face towards Sakura—

_She's gotten old, _was his first thought, and he smiled. If Sakura could have read his thoughts, he would have been in trouble.

"So! What do you think?" Sakura couldn't keep the excitement out of her voice.

Sasuke smiled and cupped her cheek in his hand. Despite the fine lines around her eyes, Sasuke remembered how beautiful his wife was—how beautiful she had always been. He couldn't believe he'd ever forgotten. In the dim light, half of her face reflected the orange glowing sunset, faint yellows and pinks playing over her pale skin; the other half was bathed in ultramarine and phthalo blues, thin turquoise washes and violet shadows. Her hair picked up all the fiery crimson hues of the western window as well, highlighting the pinks with jewel tones, garnet and carnelian, while shadows from the east painted her with purples and crepuscular cerulean.

"Beautiful."

"Not me, idiot, I mean your—"

He pulled her in for a kiss with a shaky hand.

Sakura finally drew back, whispering, "Okay. I guess I did a good job." She smiled. Sasuke drank in how the motion made her viridian eyes crinkle ever so slightly, how the light danced in her eyes like a pale green fire, all spreading out from the simple gesture of her lips. Sakura gazed into his eyes, but then her smile faded and the light leached from her irises.

"It's weird. Huh. Looking into someone else's eyes on my face..." He looked away from her and down at the swirling blue shadows on the floor.

Sakura shook her head, her hair falling in her eyes. "Sorry."

"Don't be. I'm going to have to wear sunglasses like Shino or something, before I weird everyone out in the village," he muttered, trying to make light of the situation while dread twisted his guts.

Sakura snorted. "I totally ruined the moment. I'm such an ass," she replied, forcing herself to laugh.

"It's okay," he muttered, pulling himself out of bed with slow, deliberate motions; he found when he moved too fast, the room started to spin, and his vision blurred.

Finally he stood and held her, placing his chin on top of her head; marveling at how her hair reflected all the colors of the sunset where the light touched it from the window. He wanted to run out into the twilight and drink in all the shades of the sky and sun, and for dessert devour the moonlight filtered by the opaque, purpled night. He wanted to light a candle and study the flame, the progressions of blue to crimson to gold to black— the way the colors and the light abutted the darkness in gentle gradations, like a song with lolling crescendos and shades of silence, made real, tangible, something to be held with the eyes and eyes alone—

He closed his eyes, dizzy against the beautiful light and the guilt curdling his stomach. _These eyes aren't mine..._

As if sensing his thoughts, Sakura pulled away; she tipped his chin down towards her, the motion startling his eyes open. She forced herself to look into his eyes again. "Ryuu would have wanted you to enjoy it... Don't you think?"

He closed his eyes again. "This feels morbid and weird and wrong." The room seemed to lurch, and Sasuke had to steady himself on his wife's arm.

"I'm serious. Don't let that little boy have died in vain. Open your eyes," she commanded.

But Sasuke sighed and kept his eyes closed. "That's like saying you should finish everything on your plate because people are starving in the Water Country." It sounded stupid, even to him, but he didn't know what else to say.

"People are starving in the Water Country!"

"But hearing you say that makes me lose my appetite," Sasuke maintained, squeezing his eyes shut against the harsh truth: Sasuke was twice a grave-robber with another's eyes in his head, showing him light he did not deserve. The forced banter with his wife did little to comfort him.

"Idiot. Fine, keep your eyes closed, but only _after_ I show you something." She took his hands and guided him towards the western window. "Okay, open them."

He did so hesitatingly, but when he did so, he was overwhelmed with joy— there was a fine line of tangerine light on the horizon, gently fading into amber and ocher and pale naples yellow, expanding outward in peacock green and ultramarine and lavender and deep, deep violet studded with lemon stars. He exhaled slowly, regarding the sliver of moon hanging like a lopsided grin in the sky, pale white breathing light, its nimbus electrified. Sakura curled her hand around the small of his back and leaned onto his shoulder.

"Here," Sakura whispered. "Look at this." She handed him a picture frame, face down; when he flipped it over, he smiled despite himself, a genuine face-splitting grin. It was a picture of Sora and Takeo giggling wildly from the middle of a pile of wriggling puppies. Sasuke recalled with a pang how Hinata had offered to take a photograph of the children that day for Sakura, how he had carried home the polaroid picture in one hand and a sleeping Takeo in the other, wishing for just a moment of his long-lost sight. Sasuke looked up from the photograph to Sakura's face, the warring emotions of guilt and joy etched clearly in his red-rimmed eyes.

"It's a gift—Ryuu-kun's very last gift. Enjoy it and use it well," Sakura whispered, smiling softly.

He turned towards her and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you, Sakura-chan." They stood like that for a few moments, until Sasuke ventured, "Do you think we could stop by Ino's flower shop on the way home? I—I want to see the flowers." He smiled wryly. "I'm always getting you flowers based on smell; I want to see what they look like, for a change."

Sakura grinned. "Idiot, we're both staying at the hospital tonight. But tomorrow—yes." She didn't let her grin falter when she realized that they would be going to the flower shop by necessity tomorrow—before the funeral. Instead, she choose to revel in the joy of the moment; before the joy merged, like the oranges of the sunset, into the somber blues and violet hues of tomorrow's mourning.

* * *

><p>"Naruto?" She said his name tentatively, as if he might fall off of the Hokage monument if she spoke in anything more audible than a whisper.<p>

Naruto answered silently by beckoning her over with a wave of his hand. His wide blue eyes were fixed on the sky, irises reflecting the far off flickering stars, emerging in pale yellows and golds across the expanse of night. Hinata sighed softly and glided, like a shadow, until she stood above her husband. Then, in a motion more like melting, she came to lay next to him, her opal eyes looking for something resembling an answer in the celestial bodies above her.

"Naruto-kun?" she murmured, so quiet she wasn't sure he heard her.

"Hinata-chan?" His voice was hoarse, as if his lips hadn't touched water in days.

She rolled onto her stomach and regarded him with quiet, cool eyes. "Shikamaru told me you've been up here all day. Come home. Please?"

Naruto winced, the quiet desperation tinging her voice startling him out of his frozen thoughts. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize how late it had gotten—I didn't mean to worry you..."

"It's okay..." Hinata's gaze softened with concern as she met Naruto's dark eyes; she felt as if the darkness contained therein might swallow her whole and subsume her if she lingered, and so she looked down at the ground again. She coughed. "Sora is asleep and Hoshiko is watching over her. I brought them back from Ino's after...I arranged everything. You should come home and sleep before...tomorrow."

Hinata's omissions did not serve to soften her sentence, but that had not been her intention; in reality, she could not bring herself to say the dreadful words: Burial. Funeral. They sounded so final and cold, hardly the kind of events that could befall their only son.

Naruto shook his head and sighed. "Stay with me—for just a few moments. Just until all the stars come out."

Hinata nodded and lay back down on the cool ground, observing new stars winking into sight as the last rays of sunlight receded further past the horizon. She could just make out the edges of the milky way, while the big dipper twinkled prominently in the center of the sky. She recalled the day's events, how she had been acting on auto-pilot all day: arranging the funeral, notifying her clan, finding the priest.

Her father and Neji had been by her side, but she had insisted on taking care of all the details herself. She was strong, and damn it, she could arrange this herself. It was befitting of her, as the head of her clan and as the Hokage's wife, to retain her equanimity in the face of chaos and sorrow. She told herself she was setting an example to the rest of the village, helping others to retain their hope and sense of security by maintaining a tranquil mask.

But in this quiet moment, laying alongside her husband and yet feeling utterly alone and exhausted, she wondered if she should have just let her family take care of the day's details for her. She let out a weary sigh and gazed back up at the cold heavens. The dance of the stars did little to alleviate the feelings of dread that welled up: her sense of overwhelming sorrow, and disbelief, and so many other emotions that felt trite to name but twisted in her gut like a knife all the same.

Naruto, finally taking notice of Hinata, blinked owlishly and registered the fact that silent tears were falling from her face to pool on the rock beneath her. He reached an arm out and pulled her close. As if he could read her mind, he whispered, "I'm sorry. I've been wrapped up in my own thoughts today. I've left you to take care of everything, even though you are suffering just as much as me."

Hinata sniffled and realized that she had been weeping, as if her eyes could cry without her knowledge or consent; hadn't she believed that she had run out of tears? Apparently it was not so.

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she murmured, "It's okay. I had my family help me today. But you..."

She let that thought trail off, but it hung in the air between them all the same: _But you have no family—I understand, wanting to be alone, perched on top of the last remnant of your father..._

Naruto smiled, but it failed to lift the darkness in his eyes. "Thank you. But still, I could have—"

"Hush. It's all right." She ran her fingers through his tangled hair, and he tucked his head into the crook of her arm.

"I'm so sorry, Hinata-chan." He held her gaze with his cold, lightless eyes.

Hinata shook her head. "It's not your fault..."**  
><strong>"If I had been a better Hokage—a better father... If I had only gotten there sooner..."

Hinata smiled and her lips parted, tasting salt. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she put her arms around him and held him close as he wept on her shoulder, her tears falling on his face and mingling with his.

Finally, Naruto drew back and sat up. "We should head back. Hoshiko..."

Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto?"

He turned to look at her, his eyes still full of water, refracting the moonlight and starlight like crystals streaked with cerulean.

She took his chin in her clammy palm and whispered, "You did the best you could. I know you did. There are some things...we cannot control." Her long lashes fluttered, raining tears like moonstones to fall and shatter in liquid silence on the ground. She steadied her gaze and looked him straight in the eye, as if she could look into the center of his soul and communicate the entirety of her message, so much more than mere words could ever hope to encompass. "I love you, Naruto."

She wasn't sure if she imagined it, but it seemed as though the darkness lifted and whirled in his eyes all at once, blue shifting with charcoal and shimmering with the pale orange of the street lamps below them. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve before kissing her on the cheek, and as his lips were brushed with salt, he whispered, "I love you too, Hinata-chan. Let's go home."

* * *

><p>Sasuke wore a pair of dark tinted sunglasses with a reflective coating on the outside, so that his eyes remained concealed.<p>

Sakura tapped him on the elbow. "Let's go get the girls."

Sasuke mumbled his assent. Silently, they ghosted through the hallways until they came to Yuki's room. The door opened with a low moan, and Sasuke couldn't suppress a grin. Yuki was sleeping peacefully under the white sheets, her face dusted with early morning light. Her spiky hair was all disheveled, pointing every which way and curling under towards the back. Next to her, Saki rested in a fold-out cot, snoring and drooling into her pillow, her pink hair unbound and flowing like a curtain all around her. Sakura made ready to go wake them, but Sasuke held onto her arm.

"Wait."

Sakura looked back at him, bemused. He removed his sunglasses and took in the forms of his sleeping daughters, one pale and dark, the other ruddy and tan, both glowing in the window's light like angelic figures in a religious painting. He bit his lower lip in reverence.

Sakura kissed him on the cheek. As Yuki began stirring, he guided his sunglasses back to their place on the bridge of his nose. Just in time; Yuki, pushing back the sheets, cracked open one bleary eye. "'Morning." She rose stiffly before grunting, "Did you bring me something to wear, okaasan?"

Sakura deposited two sets of dark clothing on an empty table, then walked over to Saki's sleeping form to give her a gentle shake. Saki's eyes fluttered open and she bolted upright.

"Relax, Saki-chan, it's just me," Sakura muttered.

"Oh. Mom. Sorry, I was having a weird dream. Creepy spiders and red clouds at night—gah." She shook her head and smiled up at her parents. "Hey! How did the surgery go! How many fingers am I holding up, dad?"

Yuki snorted and attempted to kick her younger sister in the side from her perch on the bed, but the younger Uchiha managed to catch Yuki's foot mid-air before impact. Sakura leveled a glare at Yuki, who retracted the offending appendage and rose, giving her own angry glare to her father. Sasuke sighed. _They're so cute when they're sleeping, but then they wake up..._

Before either of them could ask to see his new eyes, Sasuke excused himself while the girls got dressed, ostensibly to wait for them by the front doors of the hospital and to pick up Takeo. He checked the clock over the receptionist's desk and looked for Ino, but it seemed like she was late. He found a bench and looked at a nearby flower box with marigolds and chrysanthemums, marveling over the contours of the petals and the orange and cream hues.

"Oi, I didn't know you liked flowers so much, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke spun around and regarded Ino, her husband in tow and carrying Sasuke's youngest son. Sasuke blinked, and was thankful she couldn't see his alarm through his mirrored glasses. "Ah, Ino-san, Choji-san. Thank you so much for watching over the Takeo."

Choji snorted and handed over the bright-eyed babe. "He was no trouble at all."

Sasuke nodded, not sure what he should say. It was always extremely awkward talking to Choji, and the awkwardness was only exacerbated by the approaching funeral.

"In any event, I'm truly grateful," Sasuke managed at last. He bounced his son on his hip; the curious toddler reached for Sasuke's new glasses, which Sasuke affixed to his ears with extra chakra.

Ino took her husband's arm. She murmured, "Well, we've got flowers to haul. We'll see you...later."

Sasuke nodded. "Later," he mumbled, feeling dread settling in the pit of his stomach like a lead brick. He breathed out a sigh of relief as they left, then sat with his son on a bench. "Good morning, Takeo-chan."

"Goo moooooooo nin!" Takeo babbled, clapping his hands as Sasuke bounced the boy on his knee. Sasuke grinned. _Well, at least Takeo still loves me..._ He resisted the urge to make a wish to whatever gods were listening to keep Takeo young and adorable forever, untainted by the duties of a ninja or the impending hormones of prepubescence.

"Otousan."

Sasuke rose with a start. _I must really be distracted by this whole I-can-see business. That's the second time someone has snuck up on me today. _Sasuke replied smoothly, "Yuki-san."

His oldest daughter eyed him suspiciously. "Let me see your eyes."

Sasuke blanched. "I'd prefer not. They're awfully sensitive to light..."

Thankfully, he was rescued by his wife at that moment. "Yuki, pester your father later. We're already running late." Yuki glowered at her. Sakura took the girl aside and whispered a furious reproach and then gentle words of comfort, which seemed to mollify the girl. Saki walked alongside her father in silence, twirling the end of one pink braid and looking up at him curiously. Then, without further ado she took his hand in hers and leaned her head against his arm as they walked. _Well, it seems like Saki loves me, too. Two out of three ain't bad..._

They sat down at a loud cafe and had breakfast in silence. By the time Sasuke finished his meal, he had already forgotten what he had eaten, and the roads and paths in the village—usually somewhat deserted at this hour—were flowing with rivers of people dressed in black. And soon Sasuke and his family left their crumbs and loose change on the table to join a tributary of the crowd, rushing with severity through the center of town, then trickling towards the cemetery with dread etched in the soles of their Sunday shoes. The crush of people in their monochromatic finery overwhelmed his eyes, so much movement, so much black and white and lace and shuffling of feet and sighing, dour faces, misty eyes and muffled wails.

He wasn't cognizant of exactly when they arrived, or when they found a place next to the Uzumakis. Saki sidled up to Hoshiko and held her hand, and Yuki turned to stand with Cho behind Konohamaru's wheelchair. The priest began his intonations and incantations to which no one listened; everyone began to weep. Everyone, that is, except for Yuki, whose eyes were dry and whose face was stoic. Sasuke found himself staring at his eldest daughter. _My god, she looks so much like I did, she acts so much like I once did..._

The truth hit home. He had never truly noticed before, not like this. Eyes and ears were entirely different organs—seeing was believing. He saw all his glorious imperfection made into flesh, staring into the nothing over the unlit funeral pyre and not shedding a tear. While Sasuke felt his own eyes misting—except they weren't his eyes—and he was overwhelmed at his own failures, at the evidence of grave robbery in his head, at the death of a son he could not save. The irony overtook him then—Ryuu's eyes were crying tears over his own death, and Sasuke stood, like a bystander in his own body, watching the tears fall and not knowing from whence they truly came.

Then someone shoved a guitar in his hand—he idly noted that it was made of white pine and inlaid with abalone—and Naruto asked him to play a song. Suddenly he was standing in front of all those people: hundreds upon hundreds of people dressed in black, with white handkerchiefs pressed to their faces and white chrysanthemums clutched to their breasts. Naruto nodded to him, his eyes flowing like an ocean, and beside him Hinata, tears trickling down the side of her face but otherwise stoic and strong, and they were both looking at him plaintively, waiting for him to play a song. Sasuke closed his eyes—except that they weren't his eyes—and attempted to play, to strum a simple chord, oh gods he hadn't prepared anything—

The only sound that left his guitar was strained silence, and the only thing he saw were the tears obscuring his vision, tears that belonged to another man, while Sasuke stood, a prisoner and an onlooker trapped in bones and flesh—

Sasuke raised his masked eyes to Naruto, as if to mutely say, _I can't play, there is no sound, please—_

Yuki put a hand on his shoulder—he did not know when she had come to stand next to him—and with a flawless marble mask for a face, she lifted her flute to her lips and began to play, beautiful and lilting, a fiddle tune that Sasuke dimly recognized but couldn't quite place. He watched his daughter with morbid fascination, listening to the cold notes metallically ringing like the hammers of the hot forges, like the high pitched wail of a falcon spotting prey. A rush of images: the opening of the dark earth, snowflakes falling in blinding white spirals, water dripping on the gutter forming icicles, the full moon's eerie glow on freshly fallen snow. Then children running, a hand on a bell, a red ribbon falling from hand to river, flowing like a red snake until rushing out of sight over the next bend.

The notes fell like cascades, loops of sound climbing higher and higher, a bird of prey circling the sky to kiss the sun—

And then a long, sustained high note, _a wail, a wail_, feathers falling from the silhouette of the sun—

Silence.

The priest lit the pyre and Yuki took her father's hand, leading him like a dumb mule back to the bosom of the crowd.

* * *

><p><em>an thanks so much for reading! I worked really hard on this chapter, _

_so your feedback would be so appreciated via your review:)_


	21. Chapter 21: Stronger

_a/n Thanks for your wonderful reviews and for your patience! I think I'll stick to an update-every-two-weeks schedule; my beta is awfully busy, so this will be easier on her, too._

_Thanks as well for all your kind messages while I was on hiatus; I was going through a big ol' writer's slump, and your encouragement was definitely appreciated!_

_In other news, I'm almost finished my original novel I started for NaNoWriMo-it's at 170,000 words, about 450 pages! Whew! I'm going to throw a cyber party when that's done!  
><em>

_Special thanks to **Uchiha.S, **my beta and friend:) You rock girl:)_

_Published to "Crystaline" by Bjork, from Biophilia:)_

* * *

><p>Chapter 21: <strong>Stronger<br>**

_Said she, "It does not matter at all to me,_

_They are dead, my dad and mother;_

_And likewise lifeless lay all my kin,_

_I've given you the eyes of my brother._

_~The Second Book of Akash, verse VIII_

Yuki barely heard what Kakashi-sensei was saying to her; his words were garbled, his eyes were crinkled with forced, false cheer. The smell of incense overlaid the odor of burnt flesh; it made hard for her to concentrate on what Kakashi was saying, and she itched to run away from the field where the funeral had been held. Though Yuki had wished fervently throughout the service that the adults around her could have shown more emotional restraint, she found Kakashi's nonchalance even more unnerving than the her father's effusive tears.

"Hokage-sama told me that you have awakened your sharingan. Would you like to train with me, Yuki?" came Kakashi's quiet voice, breaking through the fog of her thoughts. "The Hokage-sama—"

"Yes, let's go now," Yuki broke in forcefully, not caring what else Kakashi was going to say. She turned and began stalking off towards the training grounds.

"I—er—that is to say, you want to train _now_?" Kakashi forced a chuckle, which grated on her nerves. "I thought—"

But Yuki turned to face him, spearing him with a glare; she gestured with her head towards the smoldering funeral pyre. "Now is good for me."

Kakashi gave her an unreadable expression. "Tomorrow. We'll start training tomorrow at nine o'clock in the morning. Okay?"

Before Yuki could answer, Kakashi had already turned back into the crowd, probably to seek out her parents, or Naruto.

Yuki placed a hand on her hip, deep in thought, wondering why Kakashi had ended the conversation so abrubtly: perhaps she had unsettled him in some way? She shook her head; honestly, she cared little what other people might think of her today. While everyone else was distracted, she snuck out of the crowd and into the woods towards the training grounds. The underbrush whispered in the faint breeze, and the cruel sun shone in a clear blue sky, as if to signify that _today was a beautiful day_.

She mused that from now on, she would detest all clear, sunny summer days. Running a hand through her cropped hair, she took a cursory look at the path behind her; she did not want anyone to follow her. Then she forced chakra into her feet and sprinted through the forest, ignoring the dull ache in her shoulder at the rapid movement.

The training grounds were deserted. Here, under the canopy of trees, Yuki could pretend that the day was overcast, as it should have been. She rummaged through her satchel and withdrew her pack of ninja tools, then placed her flute in its case on the ground.

She let out a long, slow exhalation. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to play—in fact, it was an accident that the flute had been with her in the first place. She had told her mother to bring her the ninja tools, which happened to be in her black bag...which also happened to hold the instrument. She ran her fingers over the cool metal case. It wasn't something she often played anymore, preferring instead to focus on her ninja training.

But somehow she had found the flute in her bag; she had run her fingers over the cold case while the priest droned on over the polished casket. Then, when her father had commenced to make an ass of himself in front of the whole village, she had felt incredible anger and hopelessness welling up inside of her. _Father is supposed to be an elite ninja and a renowned musician. Ha. He just stood in front of all those people and cried like a baby. Even his stupid shiny glasses hiding his stolen eyes couldn't hide that._

Ninja were not supposed to show emotion; that was what they had learned in school. And yet, she was surrounded by bawling adults. Even the Hokage-sama, a supposed example for the whole village, was crying like a little girl. How depressing. She was surrounded by complete and utter incompetence.

All she knew was that one moment, she had been standing with the remnants of her team, Cho and Konohamaru crying unabashedly while Yuki ignored them. Then suddenly, overwhelmed by shame from association with her father—and other emotions she didn't want to name, emotions she wasn't supposed to have—she was standing in front of a sea of people, playing her flute.

But as she played, the anger and the shame faded. Strangely, as she gazed at the pyre, she had an odd feeling that Ryuu could hear her; that the higher the notes, the better he could hear her flute sing. She had never considered herself more than an adequate musician, but at that moment she was playing for her teammate, and for him alone, and she knew that he could hear her. That was good enough for her.

She shook her head and turned her attention to her weapons in front of her, withdrawing a set of kunai and jogging over to the target practice area. _I've got to train harder._ She stood in the center of ten targets and regarded them coolly. Taking a deep breath, she leapt in the air and chucked ten knives in a perfect circle. A series of _thwaks_ resounded through the forest, while Yuki landed on the balls of her feet with practiced grace.

_Excellent. Bulls-eyes on all ten targets._ Yuki nodded thoughtfully before retrieving her kunai. She produced a long white scarf from her pouch and tied it around her eyes, then proceeded to repeat the exercise. When she lifted the scarf to admire her handiwork, she noticed that she had only hit eight out of ten bulls-eyes. _Well, fucked if I'm going home until I've got this down perfectly._

An hour later, she was panting for breath, but she had finally hit all the targets in the center with her blindfold in place. She shook her head.

"It's not good enough. I should have been able to hit them all perfectly on my first go."

Gulping water from her canteen, she resolved to practice more tomorrow. For now, her damned shoulder was starting to hurt again. _Gah. Mom said I couldn't do any jutsu...she didn't say training in general was going to be fucked._ Wincing, Yuki put her opposite hand over her aching shoulder and channeled healing chakra into her wound. It helped to ease the pain, but also made her feel even more exhausted. She sat down under a tree and closed her eyes.

"I really, really, don't feel like going home..." she said aloud to no one in particular. No one was going to understand, least of all her father. And she didn't want to see him remove those dark glasses, only to reveal bright blue eyes...

She shuddered. Perhaps she should talk to Cho? She shook her head again; Cho was a sweet girl and a good teammate, but in all honesty Yuki didn't have that much in common with her. Yuki was a fighter, constantly training herself into the ground and polishing her skills to prove her worth. Cho was a medic, who liked to take it easy, enjoying the company of young children and picking flowers in the fields.

Not that Cho wasn't adequate ninja; it was just that Yuki didn't think Cho would _understand_. Although what specifically Yuki wanted to be understood was a mystery to Yuki herself. She began chewing on a fingernail, worrying it with her front teeth and ripping off a hangnail until she drew blood. And then she smiled as an idea formed in her head. She slammed the bloody finger to the ground and funneled as much chakra as she dared into the summoning.

"Mistress?" Tama purred as she rubbed up against Yuki's legs. "Are you in danger?"

"Nah." Yuki leaned against the rough bark of a tree trunk, feeling relieved for the first time that day.

Tama blinked up at her mistress curiously, but settled for sitting beside her and purring as Yuki scratched her behind the ears.

* * *

><p>Two nights after the funeral, Sasuke found himself in Naruto's office. Although this time, both he and Naruto found themselves on the <em>other<em> side of the desk, and they were on the receiving end of Tsunade and Shikamaru's ire.

"You realize what you're doing is asinine," Tsunade intoned, exasperated.

Shikamaru crossed his arms and merely glowered at them, as if they were children and he and Tsunade were their stern parents. It was an affect that might have been comical, had the situation not been so severe.

Sasuke took a slow, deep breath. "Listen. I said I'd go with the dobe. Everyone thinks he's home on temporary leave anyway; I hardly leave the house, so no one will suspect that he and I have left the village to do this reconnaissance mission." Sasuke pushed his shades higher up on the bridge of his nose and suppressed a growl. Sakura had warned him to keep his cool, and so he would—for Naruto's sake.

Shikamaru uncrossed his arms and leaned forward on the table before replying. "I believe it is unwise for the Hokage to leave the village for this mission, not while any other ANBU would do. Shino, head of the Black Ops, has already offered to go to Akash _personally_ to assess the situation."

Naruto frowned. "I'm going. And that's final."

"Dammit Naruto! Just because you're the Hokage—it doesn't mean you can just go haring off when ever you want!" Tsunade slammed her hand down on the desk, making it shake; Sasuke winced, surprised that the furniture didn't snap in two. Whoever had build the desk had made it with Tsunade's anger management problem in mind.

Naruto merely sighed and crossed his arms while his top two advisers glared down at him. _Guess it's time for me to step in..._ Sasuke was no diplomat—his social skills were still considered inept at best, even by his closest friends—but Naruto was his responsibility now. Fortunately, Sakura had already schooled him on exactly _what_ to say and _how_ to say it to Tsunade and Shikamaru to win them over. Sasuke cleared his throat and ventured, "May I offer my opinion?"

"No," Tsunade grumbled.

"Go ahead," muttered the Nara.

Sasuke took that as a yes. "Perhaps it would be prudent to let the Hokage-sama leave the village—just for the week—to gain some perspective, as well to accomplish the mission. It's been a trying week; it would be good for the Hokage-sama's health to go on a trip."

Naruto groaned, "You can just call me by my first name. What's with the formalities, bastard?"

Sasuke ignored his compatriot, for Sakura had schooled Sasuke in the best way to override Tsunade's irrational fears: with formalities and with cold, hard logic. Sasuke continued. "I'll be there to guard the Hokage-sama. If anything untoward happens, we can hiraishin back here at a moment's notice. Furthermore, you can summon us whenever you need us. What's the problem?" he concluded in his best impression of Sakura.

Tsunade exhaled, the bite taken out of her anger; Shikamaru finally sat down. After a pregnant silence, Shikamaru finally mumbled, "I suppose..."

Tsunade eyed the Hokage askance. "You really want to–"

"Yes," Naruto cut in, his lifeless eyes meeting Tsunade's concerned gaze.

Sasuke, attempting to smooth over the dobe's unskillful maneuvering, replied, "We've already told our families that we'll be gone on a top secret mission. Our bags are already packed. We'll be back before the week is out." Sasuke rose and shouldered his pack, while Naruto followed his lead. "We're going."

With that, both friends turned to leave. But before Naruto could reach the door, Tsunade strode forward and crushed the Hokage in an embrace.

"Just be careful, Naruto-kun."

"I will, baachan." Naruto offered her a demi-smile.

With that, the two disciples of the Sanin left the office before anyone else could argue with them, and slipped out into the night and out of the village.

* * *

><p>Yuki was dripping with sweat and panting heavily. Kakashi lowered his headband back over his sharingan eye and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.<p>

"I think that's enough for today, Yuki-chan."

"San. Yuki-san."

Kakashi rolled his cyclopic eye. "Yuki-chan or Yuki-kun. Pick one."

She grimaced. "Yuki-kun."

"In any event, you did well today Yuki-_kun_. It's just about noon, why don't you take a break and meet up with your team?"

Yuki narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. She muttered, "It's noon because I had to wait two hours for you to show up, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi nodded. "Well you see, I was coming to meet you at nine o'clock sharp, but then this little old lady was crossing the street with her groceries—"

Yuki put her hands over her ears and glared.

Kakashi casually removed one of her hands from her head and continued, "Besides, Konohamaru said I needed to return you. You know where to meet them; I hear you have a new teammate."

Yuki winced. She hadn't realized that today was the day. And anyway, wasn't it a little early to have a new teammate? Instead, she replied, "Yes sir. Thank you for training me today, Kakashi-sensei." She bowed politely. Kakashi waved amicably and meandered back to the village, but whether it was to read porn or do something official, Yuki could not be certain.

_Damn_.

Yuki was not used to having the stuffing beaten out of her, but Kakashi had throughly just thrashed what little strength she had regained. Stuffing her hands in her pockets, she strode over to her pack to retrieve her lunch.

_I wonder if it's true...a new teammate?_ Kami, it had only been a handful of days since the funeral. It seemed time didn't stop in this village, especially not with ominous (yet nebulous) threats of war hovering in the air. Personally, Yuki wasn't convinced that there _was_ going to be a war, even despite the fact that random people were disappearing along the border, that she had been targeted and Ryuu had... Well, it just didn't add up to war in her opinion. _Unless there is something the adults aren't telling us..._

Yuki took a thoughtful bite of her sandwich. That could be it. Usually she could squeeze secrets out of her father, but he was off on some mission, and her mother was eternally busy with the hospital. Yuki vowed to keep her eyes and ears open and, dusting her uniform free of crumbs, went to go meet her team in their usual rendezvous point.

As she approached training field three, she could see Konohamaru seated in his wheelchair. Cho stood behind him dutifully. _I wonder what kind of training or missions __we're going to be able to do while sensei's lung is healing..._

"Hey, Yuki-san!" Cho called, waving frenetically, as if Yuki didn't see them already.

"Hey." Yuki jogged up to meet them and then ventured, somewhat apprehensively, "So. Kakashi-sensei mentioned something about a new teammate?"

Konohamaru chuckled. "Well, he still has to pass the genin test next week, but I don't doubt he'll do it. After all, he's at the top of his age group."

"Tadashi..?" Yuki hazarded. Tadashi was Neji and Tenten's only child, rumored to be the up-and-coming genius of the Hyuga clan.

Konohamaru laughed again. "I can't get anything past you, can I, Yuki? That's right. He's requested to have a formal training session with you and Cho, but I thought I would ask you two first. Are you okay...so soon...?"

Cho sniffled at that. Yuki offered, "It's a little soon...yeah. At least, that's what I think, personally. But it seems like the Hokage-sama is concerned with making as many capable teams as possible right now..." She trailed off and raised her open hands, as if she were offering something.

Cho added, softly, "If it's for the good of the village..."

Their sensei sighed. "If you aren't ready for a new teammate quite yet, that would be understandable. After all, we don't want to form a team that isn't ready to be formed. However, Tadashi seems very excited to work with you two—especially you, Yuki—and I thought..."

Yuki smiled self-depricatingly. It seemed like only yesterday, she was complaining that Ryuu was on her team when she would have preferred Tadashi in his stead. _Be careful what you wish for, huh Yuki? _Feeling guilty, but having no real reason to feel that way, she shrugged, suddenly self-conscious. "It's okay, sensei. Why don't we start training right away? I could use the practice."

Cho snorted—since when did Yuki need _more _practice?—but instead replied, "Yeah. I'm down if Yuki is."

"Good." Konohamaru whistled loudly, and Tadashi strode forward from the tree line. The boy was a year younger than Yuki but stood just as tall as she. His long chestnut hair flowed freely except for a few small braids, and his eyes shown with the typical opalescence of the Hyuga clan.

"Good afternoon." Tadashi bowed, his face a placid, polite mask. "I'm honored to be a part of your team, Konohamaru-sensei, Yuki-san, Cho-san."

Cho offered, "Nice to have you with us, Tadashi-san."

_He's formal. And he uses the proper honorifics. This could work out okay..._ Yuki thought idly. Yuki bowed but otherwise remained silent, still measuring him with her eyes.

Konohamaru cleared his throat and intoned, "Well, obviously I'm not much help today, but I thought you could all do a team building mission together."

Tadashi ventured, "Will we be escorting someone from the village? Or delivering important messages?"

"Not quite..." Something about the twinkle in Konohamaru's eye when he said this made Yuki and Cho cringe.

Yuki moaned. "Let me guess, we're going to be catching a cat?"

"Not just any cat..." Konohamaru intoned with a grin.

Cho groaned, "No. Oh no. Anything but _that!_"

Their sensei all but chortled at the look of confusion on Tadashi's face. "For your first unofficial mission, you are to locate Mr. Fluffy, who coincidentally was lost today."

Yuki slapped herself in the face. "That damned cat is near impossible to catch. I swear that thing has ninja skills–"

"Speaking of ninja skills, Yuki, there's a new rule. You can't use your summons to help you." Konohamaru wheeled himself into the shade and checked his watch. "Let's see if Team Five can collect said cat within the next three hours." He tossed them all one walkie-talkie each. "Now go!"

"Yes sir, Konohamaru-sensei!" Tadashi replied. From the look on his face, Yuki could read Tadashi's thoughts as plain as day: _Three hours to catch one kitten? Surely you jest..._

"Yes, sensei," Cho and Yuki groaned in unison.

"Good luck!" Konohamaru called as the three genin receded from sight. He took out a book from his vest pocket—a book that looked suspiciously similar to one of Kakashi's illicit volumes—and began to read as his students took off for the village.

"Yuki-san?" Tadashi began.

"Hn?"

"Do you really think it will take three hours to locate a cat?"

Cho snorted while Yuki replied, "If we're lucky, it will _only_ take three hours."

Clearly, the new recruit did not believe her, but Yuki ignored the hapless Hyuga and instead began giving out orders. "Cho, you take the eastern side of the village, I'll take the west, and Tadashi..." Here, Yuki stalled for a moment. "Hey...Tadashi, are you any good with shadow clones?"

Tadashi shook his head. "I specialize in the gentle fist style..."

Yuki exhaled slowly. "Usually I could spare a clone, but I've got to conserve chakra. Cho?"

The girl nodded. "I can't do shadow clones, but I can certainly make an earth-style clone." Cho formed some hand-signs, and in minute a clone was born from the ground they stood upon.

"Okay, Cho and clone, take the eastern and southern sides. I'll cover the west, Tadashi you get the north. Got it?"

Tadashi raised his hand and ventured, "Why don't we start at the target's home and then work our way outwards?"

There was a moment of silence.

"That would save time..." Cho agreed.

Yuki shook her head. "It's obvious you have much to learn in the way of cats. When a cat escapes, they make a bee-line as far away from home as possible. Additionally, I have reason to believe that Mr. Fluffy is having a rendezvous with Mrs. Penelope, a cat whom I suspect is in heat. And she lives on the west side."

Tadashi eyed her askance. "You are very well acquainted with…um…cat gossip."

Yuki, perfectly serious, nodded. "Unfortunately, my sister has a feline communication unit and keeps me up to date on the soap opera-esque affairs of the cat world."

"Well, if he's meeting up with...um...Mrs. Penelope, shouldn't we all converge on the west side?"

"Good thinking, except that Mr. Fluffy is also known to have...relations with Tabby, who lives over on the south side. He also enjoys fishing in at the park on the east side—you know, the one with the pond. So thus, it's best to split up to cover more ground."

Tadashi shook his head. "I'll start from the center of town and work my way out. You girls can cover the circumference and work your way in. I should be done in no time with my byakugan."

Yuki crossed her arms. "We work as a team, Tadashi-san." And by team, Yuki meant that everyone should be listening to her brilliant plan.

Cho, ever the peacemaker, offered, "Let's all work from the center outwards and utilize Tadashi's eyes as a starting point. Then we can split up from there."

"Fine," Yuki practically spat.

The ninja were off in a flash, and quickly made their way to Mr. Fluffy's apartment building. Tadashi activated his ocular jutsu and called, "I see a total of ten cats in the area. Cho, you and your clone split up and take eight through eleven o'clock. I'll take twelve and one. Yuki, you should be able to handle two to four, since you're the expert—that's where the highest concentration of cats are. Ok, let's go."

Yuki, grinding her teeth, rushed off to her assigned quadrant. After searching diligently, she found five cats, none of whom were their target. "Kchhh. Come in, come in. This is Black Crow. No sign of target."

"Rodger that. This is Red Monarch. No sign of target here, either. What about you...what's your code name?"

There was a sigh on the walkie line. "I'll go with Opal. No sign of our target either. Damn."

"Kchh. Language, Opal. Let's keep spreading out. I'm going to head to the west side. Black Crow, over."

"Black Crow, this is Opal. Excuse my profanities; my mother is a bad influence. As per your proposal, I don't sense too many cats on the west side. Are you sure...?"

"Call it a gut feeling. Over and out." Yuki rolled her eyes; was Tadashi _always_ going to be questioning her excellence? She suspired slowly. Perhaps she should just cut the kid some slack. After all, today was his first day on the team. Shaking her head, Yuki ran towards the west side.

Sure enough, as she approached the west side, she heard the unsavory wails of cats doing their reproductive "thing." _How horrible. When are the Oniki family going to spay their cat...or is it neuter for male cats? Well, that guy definitely needs his balls chopped..._ Yuki winced and pressed the button on her walkie. "Kchhh. This is Black Crow. Target is in sight, west side of town, thirty degrees north from the mochi vendor. Do you read me?"

"Kchhh, this is Red Monarch. I'm coming."

"Dear gods, _what_ is the target doing."

Yuki sighed. "Opal, I believe that is what we would call, in common parlance, cats 'getting it on.' Let's wait until the target is finished...his…er…business...before apprehending him. Blech. Over."

Yuki staked out a spot on a tree directly across from the fornicating felines. She stifled a groan. _This is the worst mission ever._

"Gah, when are they going to be done...you know...their _thing_?" Cho's voice came in from the other side of the line.

Yuki shook her head. "Let's just wait...it can't be _that_ much longer."

"Kchhh, this is Opal. I suggest we throw a net over them...while they are otherwise...occupied."

"This is Black Crow. You're welcome to it, Opal. Except that when cats...ahem...fornicate, the male's...apparatus becomes barbed, and won't retract from the female until he's...satisfied."

"Oh."

"Ergo, I recommend we should wait until...yeah." Yuki grimaced and settled back into her perch on the tree. After a few moments, she shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet. This was taking forever.

"Kchh. This is Opal. I certainly wish sensei would give us more dignified missions. This...is terrible."

"Kchh, this is Red Monarch. Opal...suck it up."

Yuki snickered.

"Kchh, this is Opal. I certainly can't believe you would talk to a teammate this way!" There was no response to his plaintive whine.

Yuki rolled her eyes and went back to observing the target.

The line went dead for a while. Yuki began to tire of the sounds of cat sex. _Damn it. I wish Ryuu were here. He'd be cracking stupid jokes and making things more interesting..._ Yuki felt a pang at that thought.

Suddenly, Cho deadpanned over the line, "Kchhh. This is Red Monarch. Yo, Black Crow, I just picked my nose and found, like, the biggest booger."

Yuki almost fell out of the tree, she was laughing so hard. "Kchhh, ha-ha! Red Monarch! Ha-ha, you just like, gah! Wha-ha! Totally read my mind! Whaaa!" Yuki collapsed on her branch in hysterics– not too far off, she could hear Cho wailing with laughter herself.

"Kchh. Um...guys? That was seriously inappropriate," came Tadashi's stern admonishment.

That only made the girls laugh harder.

"Target is getting away! I repeat, Target is getting away!" Tadashi dashed after Mr. Fluffy while his compatriots were incapacitated with laughter.

Yuki wiped her eyes, but whether she was crying wholly from laughter or sorrow, she was not sure. "Kchhh. Red Monarch. This is Black Crow. Thanks for that."

"Ha. Hee hee. Anytime."

Yuki cast a silent glance up at the clear afternoon sky before tailing their target.

_I think Ryuu would be proud..._

* * *

><p>"Not bad, Team Five; you made it back in three hours and fifty four minutes. I think that's a record for Mr. Fluffy."<p>

Said pet was moping in his cat carrying case, held by an equally sulky Tadashi. "I can't believe this," the Hyuga muttered

"Can't believe what?" their sensei asked, slightly bemused.

Tadashi sighed. "I just thought Team Five would be more...professional, that's all."

Cho snickered; Yuki grinned and replied, "Hey, you heard sensei, we caught that hell cat in record time." Mr. Fluffy mewed in protest at the pejorative.

"I just don't think reporting back on what you found up your nose via the walkie-talkie is very..." However, Tadashi was unable to finish his sentence, because Yuki and Cho broke down in hysterical laughter.

Tadashi shook his head. "Honestly, I can see Ryuu had a bad influence on you, Yuki—they said you were at the top of your age group—"

The laughter stopped dead; Cho began to sniffle, while Yuki drew herself up to her full height, her eyes shining dangerously.

Konohamaru put his hand on the boy's shoulder and whispered, "Tadashi. Not the best timing."

Yuki glared at the boy who seemed to have the social intelligence of a golf ball. "Don't speak of things you don't understand, _Tadashi_."

_Or I will rip you a new one... _The unsaid threat rang in the silence.

Tadashi bowed politely. "Forgive me. I do not mean to speak badly of the dead. I was simply commenting that it seemed Yuki took her ninja duties more seriously at the academy...before..."

Yuki hissed, "Let's spar, Tadashi. You can see for yourself how _serious_ I can be." Silently, she activated her sharingan; Tadashi, in turn, activated his own ocular jutsu.

Konohamaru, despite being wheelchair bound, somehow managed to place himself between his two pupils in the blink of an eye. "Deactivate. _Now._"

"Yes, sensei." Tadashi let his jutsu fade. Yuki held on to hers for a fraction of a second more, but then let it go as well under Konohamaru's stern glare. Even from his wheelchair, sensei was imposing.

Clearing his throat, Konohamaru stated evenly, "Yuki is a fine ninja. If anything, she is _too_ serious all the time. If you value your life, Tadashi-kun, you won't take her lightly as an opponent, or as a teammate. And Yuki—" Konohamaru looked sternly at his irate pupil. "Please go easy on Tadashi. He's new to the team and doesn't yet understand the more...subtle points of teamwork."

Yuki ground her teeth and bowed. "Yes, sensei."

Tadashi bowed as well. "Forgive me."

Konohamaru waved his hand and attempted to lighten the mood. "All right trolls, good work today. Tomorrow afternoon, we'll take some time to spar. Sound good?"

"Sounds great. I can't wait to spar with our new _teammate._" Yuki said the word teammate in the same way she would have said 'leper' or 'ass-wipe.'

Cho swiped at her eyes. "Yes, sensei."

Yuki merely nodded before rushing off into the twilight, even though she wasn't particularly fond of going home. _Damn, I can't wait to kick that stuck-up prick's ass._ She gazed up at the emerging stars briefly and wondered what her otousan was up to; if his mission would shed any more light on Ryuu's mysterious murderer.

_I have to get stronger. I have to! For Ryuu..._ The stars glimmered coolly in response, and Yuki had the sudden desire to leave the village all together. Something told her that she needed to leave, that she _should _be somewhere else entirely—but Yuki dismissed the ambiguous feeling and continued to force chakra into her legs as she ran through the woods towards home.

* * *

><p><em>~Let me know how you liked it friends! :) ~Wings<em>


	22. Chapter 22: Foreboding and Fire

omg, I hate it when this site goes down. *shakes fist at ff net*

Anyway dears, here is the latest installment to SoA; special spanks to **Uchiha.S, **my muse, my genius, my beta. If you enjoy Harry Potter fics, you will enjoy her latest fics:) Believe me, they are epic; I love them and I don't even like Harry Potter (blasphemy, I know).

Thanks again for being awesome reviewers.

If you feel like checking out one of my newest projects, **"Zombie Plague,"** do let me know how you like it; it is a romantic comedy starring Temari and Shikamaru:) It's up at:

** www. fanfiction. net/s/7820420/1/**

(Minus the evil spaces of doom)

_Published to "Ffunny Ffriends" by Unknown Mortal Orchestra_

* * *

><p>Chapter 22: <strong>Foreboding and Fire<strong>

"_The sun always rises in the east,_

_In the west lays her weary head;_

_When you return to your village_

_All that you love will also be dead."_

_~Verse IX, The First Book of Akash_

Sasuke sighed wearily. He and Naruto had been walking for some time now in silence. Twilight was descending in murky shades of monastral blue, but Naruto did not seem like he was aware of the impending darkness.

"Naruto? We should probably set up camp for the night."

Naruto jumped. "What?"

Sasuke sighed before reiterating, "We should probably set up camp?"

"Nah, let's keep walking. I don't feel like stopping yet..."

Sasuke shook his head and placed a gentle hand on his companion's shoulder. "Naruto, if you're in a hurry, we should use the hiraishin. If you want travel on foot, ostensibly so we can mull over strategies, then we should set up camp and talk about our plan."

Naruto did not meet his eyes as Sasuke spoke, and remained silent; finally, when Sasuke began to despair of every receiving a reply, Naruto acquiesced with a silent nod.

They found a clearing not too far off. Sasuke gathered wood for a fire while Naruto sloughed off his pack and sat on a log, staring lifelessly at his hands. _I really don't think he's been doing much planning for this mission—not that I can blame him. Gods, providing moral support is not my forte; I wish Sakura were here…_

No matter; Sasuke's brain had been turning over various ideas all day, and he was sure he could pick up the slack—at least in terms of the actual mission. Initially, Sasuke had insisted on coming with Naruto on this trip less for the mission's sake and more to offer emotional support. Now, Sasuke saw how foolish that idea had been: he hadn't been able to lend any comfort at all that day. He sighed over his bundle of firewood, feeling terribly inept. He had obligations to Naruto—not just because he had Ryuu's eyes in his head, but because of everything, _everything_—but damn it, Sasuke was falling short, as per usual.

Sasuke had set up their camp and cooked dinner before Naruto had moved from his spot on the log.

"Oh. Thanks. I would have helped—I didn't realize..." Naruto took a bowl of gruel from Sasuke and blinked at him owlishly.

"Don't worry about it. Sakura usually makes me cook, so..." Sasuke trailed off, not really knowing how to end his sentence, and shrugged. They ate their rations in silence, punctuated only by the sound of their methodical chewing and the chirps of the emerging cicadas.

Finally, Sasuke ventured, "Naruto? Have you thought at all about how you'd like to accomplish this mission?"

Naruto swallowed his food slowly before relying, "A little... Some... Hmmm...not really."

Sasuke exhaled slowly. "We're equally distant now from the Ame border and the Akash foothills. I think it would be more fruitful to start in the town of Akash, where I initially picked up intel. From there, I'd like to investigate the Hill People."

Naruto perked up at this. "Hill People?"

"There was a fellow at the bar who had been talking to the Hill People. I overheard him saying that Yuki was being targeted, and that the Hill People were going after her…that day…"

Naruto cocked his head to the side. At the time when Sasuke had summoned him to Akash, Sasuke had only managed to get out that Yuki was in trouble. Afterwards...well, Naruto hadn't really read the mission report, or if he had, the finer points had escaped him in his grief-stricken stupor.

"Huh. That's weird. Why should some random people who live in the boonies know anything about Yuki and—" Naruto paused abruptly, his brows furrowed in thought. "Hey, do you reckon that lady who was trying to take off with Yuki was one of those Hill Folk?"

"Probably. And from Ino's report, the one who was trying to abduct Yuki..." Sasuke paused here to clear his throat. "From Yuki's memories, it seemed like the enemy ninja had the sharingan—though it was deactivated by the time we...arrived at the scene..." he concluded awkwardly.

"It's got to be Madara," Naruto spat, his voice hoarse. "I just _know_ that bastard is behind this."

Sasuke shrugged. "Who knows how the kunoichi obtained those eyes. It could have been by birth, or it could have been given to her..." Sasuke winced at this, closing his own stolen eyes; he was thankful the motion was hidden behind his sunglasses.

"Sasuke! Who else had a veritable bank of sharingan eyes, other than Uchiha Madara?" It was more of a statement than a question. Naruto balled his hands into tight fists. "We never did find his corpse, and I always wondered... I will so kill that fucking asshole—for good this time," Naruto growled.

Sasuke reached out and put a tentative hand on Naruto's shoulder. "We can't afford to jump to conclusions; after all, we're not sure exactly _who_ or _what_ we're dealing with." Of course, Sasuke felt that it probably _was_ Madara; the way his own progeny had been targeted, the sightings of Madara's teleportation jutsu on the border, and under it all, an uneasy feeling in his guts that the man behind it all was all-too-familiar.

Still, they didn't have any solid proof yet, and Sasuke's words of temperance were as much for Naruto as they were for Sasuke; just because they both had similar gut feelings did not mean that they should make hasty decisions.

Naruto chewed his lower lip for a moment. "Do you remember Gomakashi, their client—the one who stabbed Konohamaru in the back? His body was sent in for testing after he expired. We sent him to your old Take teammate, actually..."

"Karin?" Sasuke hadn't heard her name mentioned for quite some time. After the last war, she had remained in Konoha and had become one of the head researchers in the Technology and Development Department. She had never sought Sasuke out during the last ten years, and Sasuke had returned the favor. He figured he was the last person Karin would want to see, after all he had put her through.

Last he had heard, she had been upgraded from 'Prisoner who works for Konoha' to 'Ibiki's girlfriend who sometimes is let out of custody.' Apparently, she was extremely gifted, especially when it came to developing and countering forms of biological warfare. That came as no surprise to Sasuke, who had seen her work firsthand. The girl was annoying but gifted, Sasuke would give her that much.

Naruto took a deep breath. "Apparently, the corpse became animated a short time after rigor mortis—"

"What?" Sasuke couldn't keep his shock from coloring his voice. "What do you mean, _animated?_ Like edo tensei, or...?"

The blond shook his head. "I would have told you before, but I wanted to keep it hush-hush. Karin is still looking into it, but from the tests she's run so far, the jutsu doesn't seem like it is at all similar to edo tensei—aside the fact that it turns the deceased into some kind of zombie. What I mean is that the jutsu is entirely different in nature..."

Naruto held his head in his hands and sighed at his inept phrasing. "It seems that, while edo tensei binds a soul back into a body, this jutsu merely reanimates the corpse, without any particular soul in mind. Poor Karin—she was almost decapitated by the corpse when it came back to life. Thankfully, Ibiki heard her screaming and came to the rescue..."

Naruto chuckled weakly at that before continuing. "The weird thing, though, is this: Karin cross-examined Gomakashi's corpse with that arrow-wielding asshole, Yajirushi. They both had the same chakra virus. So it stands to reason that Yajirushi was also an animated corpse. But something doesn't add up: according to the reports, the assassin…"

Naruto trailed off, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "According to the reports, the arrow assassin was an extremely intelligent and formidable foe; however, when Gomakashi's virus activated—a virus exactly alike in every way to the virus in the arrow master's corpse—he just turned into a mindless zombie _thing."_ Naruto held out his palms, face up. "I just don't get it. If they were both zombie thingies, why didn't they turn out the same?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I thought that Sakura killed Kabuto with her own two hands in the war..."

"Yes, but we all know how difficult it is to eradicate Orochimaru and his ilk from the world," Naruto remarked darkly.

"Are you saying that potentially, we're after another Orochimaru wannabe, or...?"

Naruto rose and began to pace in front of the fire. "All signs point to an Orochimaru type—but I'll be honest with you, Sasuke." Naruto paused and looked directly at his compatriot. "My gut tells me that Madara is behind this."

Sasuke exhaled through his clenched teeth. "Yeah. Mine too." Sasuke closed his eyes and an image of Itachi's dark form, surrounded by a flock of crows, appeared. He took a deep breath and forced himself to be rational. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Naruto. We should reach Akash in another day and a half. Until then..."

"Yeah. You're right." Naruto sat down by the fire again, staring blankly into the crackling flames. "I guess we shouldn't jump to conclusions; there's still way too much we don't know."

Sasuke gazed into the fire as well. Even through his sunglasses, he could still admire the flickering light as it cast everything around it into high relief. _Kami, what if it's an Orochimaru type who is fighting with Madara reincarnated? What if they are in league with each other? What if it's really some new form of the Akatsuki– _Sasuke shook his head. _Before we start wildly speculating, we need more information._ _Stop overreacting; you're no better than the dobe._

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm."

"Why don't you take your shades off? It's dark out."

Sasuke paled. "I'd prefer not. I'm a bit sensitive to light..."

A ghost of a grin danced over Naruto's mouth. "Come on, take them off. It's weird."

"Idiot. I'd rather not."

Sasuke continued to peer into the fire, but he could feel Naruto's eyes on him. "Bastard. Let me see your eyes."

"Are you hitting on me or something?" Sasuke replied wryly, using humor as a type of weak shield.

His witticism was met with a snort from Naruto, who commenced to rest his chin in his open palm. "Seriously, Sasuke...please?"

He said it with such sorrow and sincerity; the juxtaposition between Sasuke's dry humor and Naruto's soft, serious voice made Sasuke feel weary and worn. Sasuke lacked the strength to argue. Silently, he removed the shades and put them in his pocket and with the slow, hesitant movement of his bowed head, his eyes met Naruto's.

In the low light, their features flickered in sombre chiaroscuro; two sets of cerulean eyes observed each other as their irises echoed with copper and carmine from the fire.

"Huh." Naruto stared at Sasuke's face and skewed his lips to one side.

"What?" Sasuke snapped.

"Nothing..."

Sasuke pressed his lips together, full of self-conscious emotions he did not wish to investigate. "It's weird, no?" he whispered into the silence, wishing the ground would open and swallow him whole.

Naruto shook his head, surprising Sasuke with a grin. "Nah. Actually, it's nice."

"Hn." Sasuke chewed the inside of his cheek before he could catch himself, but Naruto noticed the motion and laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What's so funny, moron?"

Naruto flopped down on his stomach and propped his head up in his hands to watch the fire. "You are. So fucking serious. It cracks me up."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Hn."

Naruto chortled again. "No, really. It's nice to see a small piece of Ryuu looking back at me, still living—and it's nice to see you seeing. So yeah. It's _nice_."

Sasuke's mouth ghosted upwards in a crooked grin, but otherwise, he remind silent. He didn't know how to respond.

An amiable silence fell between them, accentuated by the crackling of the fire and the songs of the night creatures.

"I actually feel a lot better now," Naruto uttered, after the long pause.

Sasuke was weirded out by the whole morbid business—why on _earth_ was Naruto so pleased to see his dead son's eyes in Sasuke's skull? He simply couldn't wrap his mind around it. But, he supposed if Naruto was happy, then that was all that mattered. "I'm…glad," was Sasuke's gruff reply.

Naruto rolled over, reached for his pack, and unhooked his sleeping mat. "Well, we should probably hit the hay. Do you mind if you take first watch? I know it's early, but I'm feeling like I could really sleep right about now."

Sasuke nodded. "I'm not tired yet. In fact, I think I'd like to watch the fire for a while..."

Naruto grinned at that, a smile that seemed to bring life back into his eyes. "Good. All right, smack me awake in a few hours, then and I'll take the next watch."

"Sure."

In a manner of minutes, Naruto was out cold and Sasuke was admiring the jewel tones of the flames. _I wonder how it is that the blue light can survive at the root of all that red—how does the blue manage to remain so bright at the base?_ Sasuke, in all his years of blindness, had forgotten that fires burned cobalt at the center where it was the hottest.

But to his eyes, it was almost as if the color blue was a watery entity in and of itself, burning and yet not subsumed. It was surrounded on all sides by smoldering vermillion, coals glowing the color of blood; the fluttering plumage of tangerine flames, dancing like feathers and disappearing in curling smoke. He loved the way small embers would rise with the hot air and fly, as if the fire had a mind of its own and could birth orange creatures into the air.

Hours passed and Sasuke was still gazing in the fire, sometimes taking breaks to regard the stars coldly gleaming in lime and lemon light. He checked his watch and then looked over to where Naruto was snoring loudly. Reluctant to wake him, Sasuke instead summoned a hawk to watch over them. Allowing the fire to die down to crimson cracking coals, he lay down on his mat and finally closed his eyes, feeling oddly peaceful for the first time in over a week.

* * *

><p>Yuki was holed up in her room. When she had strode in through the front door of her home, she had needed quiet; instead, she found the entire Uzumaki family, minus Naruto, were having a massive sleep-over at her house.<p>

Sora and Takeo were shouting loudly and chucking building blocks all over the living room; her mother and Hinata were watching a boring romance movie in the den; while her sister and Hoshiko were hanging out in Saki's room across the hall. Yuki wished she could have blocked out the annoying noises of her visitors. Sighing in exasperation, she rose to open the window, there to leap up onto the roof to find some peace and quiet.

Just as she was about to undo the latch, a dark figure rose up on the other side of the window. Yuki switched on her sharingan and braced herself to attack–

"Yuki, it's just me," came the muffled reply from the other side of the glass.

"Oh." Befuddled, Yuki opened the window while deactivating her eyes. "Cho? What are you doing here?"

"Yuki-san... You know I'm not usually one for revenge, right?"

Yuki nodded mutely, not quite sure where this was going. Cho continued, "I want to plot. We need to teach our new teammate a lesson."

Yuki grinned viciously and moved away from the window, creating space for her unannounced visitor to enter her room. "I see I've become a bad influence on you, Cho-san."

Cho rolled her eyes. "If this is wrong, I don't want to be right. No one—_no one—_has the right to talk shit about Ryuu-kun. Tadashi thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread, just because he has a doujutsu and Ryuu-kun didn't. But Ryuu-kun had more personality, kindness, and warmth than that ass will ever have!"

Yuki blinked. Was this really her soft-spoken teammate Cho who was speaking so vehemently? Yuki smiled, her foul mood quickly dissipating. "Have I ever told you how glad I am you're on my team?"

"This would be the first time," Cho said in a monotone as she sat down on the bed.

"Oh." With a pang of guilt, Yuki realized that she had regularly neglected her soft-spoken teammate, taking her for granted like an easy-chair: soft, comfortable, supportive, but always in the background and rarely appreciated.

Yuki cleared her throat and began, "Well...I guess I should say it more often..."

Cho grimaced. "You don't need to patronize me. I know I'll never be an exemplar ninja. It's okay..." Her unvoiced sarcasm silently wavered in the air: _I'll never be an exemplar ninja—like you..._

"Cho..." But Cho just shook her head. Yuki sighed and continued, "Listen. You are a hundred times the ninja Tadashi will ever be. You're loyal and dedicated, and you have a great sense of humor. I had a fucking great time doing that mission with you today. Don't undervalue yourself."

Cho sniffled and looked down at the rug. "Thanks..."

"Besides," Yuki persisted, "I have a feeling our mission for revenge is going to be the most fun we've had in a while. And I never would have thought to do something like this without you. I was kind of planning on sulking in silence, and then kicking his sorry ass during practice—but a ninja should always be prepared. Hatching a plan is a good idea. And so I thank you."

Cho offered a shy grin. "Cool."

"Now, step one: reconnaissance. And I know just the place to get it." Yuki marched forward and opened the door to her room. "Time to enlist Saki and Hoshiko's help."

Yuki strode across the hall and knocked on Saki's door. And knocked again. When she continued to receive no answer, Yuki rolled her eyes and opened it. A moment later, she wished she hadn't.

Before her, the two younger girls sat on the floor; Hoshiko's head rested on Saki's shoulder, and both of their eyes were swollen and puffy, as if they had been crying for a long time. Yuki stood in the door, her eyes wide, trapped by their gazes and unable to flee.

Cho came up from behind her and padded into the room.

"Saki-chan? Hoshiko-chan?" she called softly. The two girls just sniffled in response. Cho sat down between them on the floor, and with a sigh, put her arms around both Saki and Hoshiko. The air felt thick and heavy, and Yuki could scarcely breathe—open displays of emotion freaked her out, especially in a small, enclosed space like this. She forced herself to stir, and with jerky movements made her way to perch on Saki's bed.

Cho cleared her throat and began, "Sorry to disturb you two."

Saki sniffled and replied shakily, "It's okay, Cho-san...we were just thinking about...yeah." Hoshiko sighed at this and began to cry.

Cho nodded wisely. "I've been thinking a lot about him, too." She placed her hand over Hoshiko's bowed head and began to smooth her hair with calm, repetitious movements. "You know," Cho continued in a drawl, "Ryuu was always such a prankster. That's one of the things I enjoyed about him the most."

Hoshiko looked up at the older girl and smiled faintly. Yuki, sitting above them all and twiddling her thumbs nervously, began admiring her teammate in a new light.

Cho smiled down at the dark haired girl and began where she left off. "Perhaps it would cheer you girls up to help us pull a little prank?"

Saki looked up at Cho as she wiped away her tears. "A prank? What kind of prank?"

"Oh, I don't know. You see, we have a new teammate, and we were hoping you could give us a little information on him. Any embarrassing secrets, weird phobias—"

"You mean—about Tadashi?" Saki replied with a start.

At this point, Yuki broke in. "I know you've been stalking him, Saki—"

Saki's eyes narrowed in consternation. "Who said I was stalking anyone!" she roared.

"And Hoshiko, you're his cousin," Yuki continued blithely, "so–"

Saki broke in with a huff, "Yuki-_chan_, I stopped being obsessed with that idiot a long time ago."

Hoshiko laughed and replied, "When you realized he had no personality, you mean..."

"That kid has the emotional intelligence of a pencil. Talking to him is like trying to strike a conversation with rock," Saki droned lazily. "However, he is extremely good-looking. That's about all he has going for him," she concluded.

Hoshiko smiled. "My cousin is basically a decent guy, he just has a giant pole stuck up his rear-end. Even though he's a genius, he has a severe lack of common sense...as well as little to no personally."

Yuki snorted. "Sounds about right, Hoshiko-chan."

Cho broke in, "So, tell us. Is there anything weird, or even slightly embarrassing about him that could be even remotely prank worthy?"

Saki sighed and tapped her forehead in thought. "Well, he isn't very nice to Tabby—that's his pet cat. And once, the cats in his neighborhood said he stepped on their friend's tail by accident and didn't bother apologizing... Other than that, that's all the dirt I've got. He's a pretty bland character. Like oatmeal." Saki stuck out her tongue.

"Hoshiko-chan? You know him better than anyone," Cho queried.

"Um..." Hoshiko scrunched up her eyes before replying, "Well...he does have an extreme dislike of feces."

"What?" Yuki asked, incredulous.

"We were sparring once and a bird passed by overhead and...a dropping fell on his head. He just totally freaked out..." Hoshiko bit her lower lip and smiled. "It was really funny. He just flailed his arms around and shouted like a crazy person...and I ended up winning the match. Don't tell him I told you so though, okay? He'd be pretty mad at me..."

Cho grinned from ear to ear. "That sounds about perfect. And don't worry honey..." she replied, shooting Yuki a conspiring look.

"We won't tell a soul," Yuki finished.

Saki pursed her lips. "Can we watch tomorrow? When you fling shit at your newest teammate?"

They all tittered at that.

* * *

><p>Sakura made her way up the stairs. The two youngest trolls, Sora and Takeo, were already fast asleep, and Hinata had already retreated to the guest room. Sakura sighed; Hinata had looked so exhausted that Sakura had given her a heavy sleeping draught and insisted on taking charge of the children. Hinata needed the sleep more than Sakura did, that was for sure.<p>

The only thing left to do was to tell the girls upstairs to go to bed. As she moved down the hall, she heard riotous laughter coming from inside Saki's room.

Knocking on the door and opening it without waiting for an answer, Sakura intoned, "Girls. People are trying to sleep in this house, and it's time for you to start making your way towards bed." When her eyes alighted on Cho, she put her hands on her hips and continued sternly, "And Cho! I'm surprised to see you here. I'm sure Ino and Choji are waiting for you at home?"

Cho stood and bowed politely. "Yes ma'am, sorry about that!" Then she turned to Yuki and whispered, "Meet me at the training grounds an hour early tomorrow, okay?"

Yuki nodded and grinned.

After waving goodbye to the assembled kunoichi, Cho all but sprinted down the steps and left the house, this time through the front door. Yuki rose to leave her sister and Hoshiko, but as she was about to close the door to her own room, her mother blocked it with her foot.

"Yuki?"

"Yes, mother?"

"Let me have a look at your shoulder before you go to bed..."

Yuki nodded, mostly because she was feeling a bit sore today after her training and the subsequent cat-fetching mission. She sat down on the foot of the bed while Sakura gathered healing chakra into her hands.

"It looks like it's healing up nicely..."

"Will I be able to spar tomorrow, mom?"

Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated on the injury. "As long as you are mindful and take it easy, I don't see why not." Sakura finished her ministrations and kissed her daughter on the head.

"Mom?"

"Mmm?"

Yuki sighed and leaned back into her bed. "Why... Why does dad have Ryuu's eyes?"

Sakura inhaled sharply. "Where did that come from?"

"I was just thinking..." Sakura noticed that Yuki's eyes flashed with anger momentarily, before returning to their habitual, stoic display.

Sakura sat down on the bed, her fingers idly tracing the patterned embroidery on Yuki's quilt. She replied, sotto voce, "It was a gift..."

"Ryuu never said he wanted to give his eyes to anyone! They should have been cremated with his body." Yuki crossed her arms and glared at her mother.

"Yuki-chan...it was Naruto's wish to give Sasuke the eyes. I'm sure that wherever Ryuu-kun is, he would be happy–"**  
><strong>"Don't give me that crap. In the ninja world, eyes are traded like sick souvenirs between victors. It's a desecration of his memory to give his eyes away like some trophy."

They were silent for a minute. Sakura stopped running her finger over the woven designs on the bedspread and tightly clasped her hands in her lap. "Yuki... Sometimes, eyes are also given as gifts to friends, to fellow ninja who will use that bequest to protect the village. Like Kakashi-san..."

Yuki blinked. "Kakashi?"

Sakura smiled. "His sharingan eye was a gift. You should ask him about it tomorrow."

Yuki had always assumed that Kakashi's sharingan had been the spoils of a battle. "Is that...really?"

"Go to the memorial stone first thing in the morning and ask him yourself."

"Won't you just tell me?"

Sakura shook her head. "It's not my story to tell. But suffice to say that restoring your father's sight wasn't the only gift Ryuu-kun has given to us. Your life is Ryuu's legacy as well."

Yuki quieted at that, her eyes withdrawn in introspection. Sakura ran a hand through Yuki's short cropped hair and sighed. "Goodnight, Yuki-chan."

Yuki was a bit stunned; she continued to stare at the wall as her mother left the room, not noticing her mother had used the honorific she always proclaimed to protest.

_A gift. My life was a gift, from Ryuu-kun..._

* * *

><p>"Tsunade-sama, should we summon Naruto?" Shikamaru asked wearily, gazing down over the former Hokage's shoulder to read the scroll in her hands.<p>

Tsunade sighed. The new intel from the border wasn't looking good. They had reports about well over a hundred missing persons from the Fire Country border alone. The curious thing was that only a dozen were connected to a jutsu similar to Madara's teleporting jutsu; the other cases were all blamed on strange abductors.

Not many of the witnesses seemed to be able to identify the perpetrator, and when they could, said perpetrator differed from case to case going by the physical descriptions. "I don't know, Shikamaru. None of this data is conclusive, and furthermore..." Tsunade sighed. "Furthermore, I don't want to bother Naruto right now."

Shikamaru chewed on his lower lip, deep in thought. "What about the new data that Karin's analyzed? About the poison used on Team Five and Gomakashi; the the similarity between the chakra virus and the biological weapons used in the First Ninja War?"

Tsunade rolled the scroll closed and leaned forward on her desk, supporting her head in her hands. "Send intel requests to the other Five Great Nations and alert them to the situation. I can't imagine the disappearing people are solely the Fire Country's problem. As for the second matter..." Tsunade's countenance darkened. "Pull up the files on Senju Hashirama, as well as all the information we have on Zetsu of the Akatsuki. If this _is_ Madara we're up against...then he's got to be connected to the poison sample we have. We may be dealing with a mutation on Hashirama's wood jutsu."

Shikamaru nodded thoughtfully. "Karin mentioned that the poison worked like virus on the physical and chakra systems. If that's true—"

"Then perhaps Madara—or whomever it is—has found a way to parasitically feed on a person's body systems by utilizing a biological weapon derived from the First Hokage's cells," Tsunade concluded.

"That would make a lot of sense," Shikamaru mused. "Madara gained his longevity in the first place by stealing Hashirama's cells; what most people forget is that he used those very same cells to create the White Zetsu. And Zetsu was the epitome of parasitical."

Tusnade rubbed her temples with her hands. "Let's get those requests sent out," she barked. "Then…I need a drink."

"And I need a smoke." Shikamaru shook his head. Peacetime had been so—well, peaceful. He wasn't used to the stressful pace of wartime anymore. And from the look of Tsunade, who was slowly melting into an exhausted puddle on her desk, neither was she.

He strode over to his desk and began drafting the official requests that Tsunade had demanded. Hopefully, between the new intel they would receive from the other hidden villages, and the information Naruto and Sasuke would glean from their mission in Akash, they would finally get to the bottom of this mess. Shikamaru's pen paused as he gazed out of the western window, his brows furrowed with worry. The setting sun was staining the horizon a rich, blood red; for some reason, it made the hairs on Shikamaru's arm stand on end.

If they didn't figure this puzzle out, and figure it out soon… Well, Shikamaru wasn't sure _what_ was going to happen, but he had a dark sense of foreboding about the whole thing. Shaking his head, he turned back to writing the requests. No sense in worrying until they had gathered more information, Shikamaru reminded himself firmly. Still, he couldn't quite seem to put his mind at ease, not even when the light of sunset faded from cadmium to the deep violet of evening.

* * *

><p><strong><em>an reviews=my undying love and affection :)_**


	23. Chapter 23: Surprises

_a/n Hey friends! Welcome back, and sorry for the long wait between updates; for some reason, I really struggled with this chapter. Special thanks to **Uchiha.s** who help me refine this chapter, who caught my stupid spelling mistakes, and over all made this chapter beta'd and better:)_

_Ye gods, am I having a hard week. Just...gah. One of my reviewers thanked me for updating even though I was busy; the truth is, the more stressed out I get, the more I update. Fanfic writing is wonderfully stress relieving, and all you wonderful readers and reviewers are to thank:) Thanks guys:) **Super, epic thanks to all you dedicated readers out there!**_

_I really hope you enjoy this next chapter my dears, and that it was worth the wait! xoxoxo!_

_Published to "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" by Skrillex. Omg, I love Skrillex._

* * *

><p>Chapter 23: <strong>Surprises<strong>

_The maiden traveled with me,_

_Back to the place of my birth;_

_It was all as she had prophesied—_

_All was dead and burned._

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse X_

Naruto was jolted awake by the bright morning sunlight. "Oh no! I can't believe it!"

Sasuke was already awake, stirring the embers of last night's flames in an attempt to stoke a cooking fire. "Tch. What?"

"You let me sleep the whole night!"

Sasuke shrugged. "I summoned one of my hawks to watch over us—"

"But Sasuke!" Naruto whined. "I was going to say goodnight to Hinata at the start of my watch!"

Sasuke blinked at him. "Huh?"

"We've been married for over ten years—I always say goodnight to Hinata, even when I'm on missions! Gah! This is the first time I've flaked out!" And with that, Naruto was gone in a yellow flash.

Sasuke just rolled his eyes. The novelty of the sensation—of having functional eyes to roll—made him smile, despite himself.

*.*.*

Back in Konoha, a groggy Hinata awoke in Naruto's arms.

"N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hinata, I'm so sorry, the Teme didn't wake me..."

"W-what?"

"I forgot to say goodnight."

Hinata blushed. She blinked away sleep, kissing her husband on the cheek. "You remembered to say good morning...that's got to count for something."

Naruto brushed his fingers along her cheek. "You've been crying..."

"A little."

"I'm sorry..." Hinata shook her head, but Naruto continued, "No—I should have been there for you last night."

"It's okay." Hinata forced a smile. "Sakura-chan has been more than supportive; I'm fine. I'm glad you and Sasuke-kun are taking care of your mission." She propped herself up on her elbows before continuing, "I know this mission is important to you. I'm proud of you for doing it."

Naruto smiled faintly and kissed her. "Thank you."

"You should get back to your mission... I'll see you tonight?"

"For sure," he whispered. And then, he was gone.

*.*.*

Sasuke had finally managed to coax a fire, and was about to make breakfast when Naruto appeared again.

"Yo, bastard. You don't need to cook—I brought us food!"

"You did?" Sasuke asked hopefully.

"I picked up some of Ichiraku's ramen! Hope you're hungry!"

"I was..." _Until you showed up with ramen..._

"What?"

"I mean, thanks. Ramen will be...great." Sasuke sighed; well, at least ramen was better than dehydrated camping food.

Sasuke was halfway through his bowl of noodles when he ventured, "So. Why don't we hiraishin to the border today?" It seemed like Naruto was in better spirits, and Sasuke wouldn't have minded hurrying their mission.

Naruto chewed his noodles in thoughtful silence before replying, "I'd prefer to walk, actually. I want to clear my head a bit more before we arrive in Akash."

"Fine," Sasuke replied, keeping his voice neutral. "Do you have any more ideas in terms of strategy...?"

"Not really. I just want to walk some more."

Sasuke shrugged and began packing up his things. "That's fine. I just thought..."

Naruto gulped down the rest of his soup and sighed. "I need to be more...mentally prepared. You know?"

"Sure." Sasuke was content to swallow his own impatience in favor of what Naruto wanted. He bent down to secure his pack in preparation for the long journey, and removed his sunglasses from his front pocket.

"Yo, Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"Don't put those on."

Sasuke paused, the sunglasses inches from his face, hovering there in the air. After a long, silent moment, Sasuke finally muttered, "Tch. Fine." He pocketed the offending shades and shouldered his pack. "Let's get going then."

Naruto grinned. "Sure."

* * *

><p>Towards dawn, noises from the guest room roused Yuki from her slumber. Yuki was a light sleeper; while it was usually a positive thing for ninja to be on guard, for Yuki, this ingrained training was often times a hinderance to a good night's rest. She slipped on her uniform and crept down to the kitchen; she pilfered a few apples from the fruit bowl before striding out into the quiet streets.<p>

The morning light dappled the town in pale yellows and golds. Yuki wound her way through the empty streets silently, munching on an apple and lost in her own musings. In her groggy state, the trip to the cemetery took no time at all; it was as if her feet were floating of their own volition. She plucked a few marigolds growing wild by the roadside, then found herself by Ryuu's tombstone.

The new practice in Konoha was to cremate the dead, scattering their ashes in order to avoid grave robbers with forbidden reanimation techniques. Still, the village continued to make headstones for the deceased, as a place for the living to pay their respects. It was a strange practice, and Yuki wasn't sure if Ryuu would really be able to appreciate her presence with the lack of a proper grave; but this was what she had to work with.

"Morning, Ryuu-kun." She placed the flowers at the foot of an elaborate alter, hung with trinkets, covered in puddles of white candle-wax. She lit a stick of incense and sighed.

"I'm sorry I haven't been by to visit sooner..." Yuki knelt down on the cold, dewy ground in silence, watching the curling smoke.

After a while, Yuki ventured, "Things have been okay here, I guess. We have a new teammate—he's nothing like you. You remember Tadashi, don't you?"

Yuki paused, as if allowing Ryuu time to reply. "Oh, you'll like this—we had to catch Mr. Fluffy again, but when we found the target, he was fucking some other cat. Tadashi was horrified. I wish you could have been there to see it—you would have said something completely inappropriate and hilarious..."

Yuki chewed her lower lip before resuming her monologue. "I'm sorry, Ryuu-kun. I feel like, when you were alive, I didn't appreciate you at all—not like I should have. I hope you'll forgive me..." A cool morning breeze came and ruffled her hair, as if in reply; Yuki smiled ruefully.

Just then, Yuki sensed someone approaching. She crouched down behind the tombstone and peeked over the edge; Kakashi was sauntering past, heading towards the memorial stone. She grinned.

"What do you think, Ryuu-kun?" Yuki whispered conspiratorially. "Should I pull a little prank on sensei?" Yuki was no clairvoyant, but she was getting a distinct 'yes' feeling from the great beyond. She activated her sharingan with a smirk.

With cat-like grace, she stalked her prey, observing him from a safe distance. She watched him place a bouquet of white flowers down by the memorial stone. His lips were moving, but he was too far away for Yuki to make out the words. Slowly, slowly, she approached him from behind until she was in range. _Ok, this is it! One, two, three—_

She leapt from her hiding spot in order to tackle Kakashi. However, the infamous copy nin merely sidestepped the attack, and Yuki was left to hurtle towards the earth by herself, face first.

"Ooof." Yuki sat up, a petulant scowl on her face; she spat out a mouth full of grass and dirt.

"Good morning, troll. What are you doing here so early?" Kakashi called, blithely ignoring Yuki's botched attack.

Yuki stood stiffly. Luckily, she had landed on her good side. If she had landed on her injured shoulder, she would have had to cart herself off to the hospital—or worse, straight back home to her mother.

With all the dignity she could muster, she replied, "Hn."

"Visiting someone?"

Yuki sighed. "Just communing with Ryuu's spirit."

Kakashi grinned wryly. "I can see that, prankster..."

Yuki had the decency to color at that. When she regained control of herself, she ventured, "Kakashi-sensei? Do you always come here— like, every day?"

He shrugged. "The real question is, what did you come here to ask me?"

Yuki stifled the urge to pout, and instead schooled her face to remain smooth. "Um...well, I had a question. My mom said I could find you here."

Kakashi's eyes crinkled at the corners as he sat down on a bench; he motioned for Yuki to sit beside him. "And what might that question be?"

"Well...I wanted to know how you got your sharingan eye."

Kakashi took a deep breath. "I see..."

Yuki continued in a hushed tone, "I guess—because my mom said other ninja received eyes as a gift..."

"Like your father," Kakashi murmured, completing her thought.

Yuki nodded silently and looked down at her hands..

Kakashi sat back on the bench and scratched his head, collecting his thoughts. This was going to take a while.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sneezed.<p>

"Sasuke, you're not getting sick, are you?"

"Tch. No," Sasuke replied. It was still early morning, but he was starting to feel antsy. While they were traveling at a brisk pace and would probably reach Akash by nightfall, Sasuke couldn't quite shake a feeling that they were being watched. It was probably just a bad case of nerves. Still…

"Everything okay, Sasuke?"

"Hn. It's probably nothing..." Sasuke bit his thumb, drawing blood. With a burst of chakra, he brought his hand down to the ground, summoning his hawk in a great burst of smoke. "Tsubasa. Fly around the perimeter; see if there is anyone else around."

The hawk cawed an affirmative and took off for the skies. Sasuke shrugged. "I'm probably just being paranoid..."

Naruto waved. "Can't be too careful."

But Tsubasa returned having not spotted anything out of the ordinary, and so the two pressed on. Their journey was perfectly uneventful. Evening fell as they reached the Akash boarder town, the cool breezes sighing through the trees.

Before they left the tree-line, they removed their headbands. The two ninja were dressed in plain black traveler's clothes, and Naruto hid his iconic blond hair under a dark hat. When their disguises were complete, they left their cover and headed for the town, where the crepuscular light colored the empty streets ochre and electric blue. The town seemed peaceful, but with an uncanny, eerie quality that Sasuke couldn't quite explain. He shivered, and not just from the cool evening breeze.

"If I recall correctly, the bar is over this way..."

"What, you need a drink?"

Sasuke resisted the urge to smack himself and dragged his companion into the dark, musty tavern. Regarding it with his newfound sight, Sasuke noticed that while the paint on the walls had worn thin, and the well-loved furniture had seen better days, the place was well-swept, and clean. It was neither too busy nor too empty. They sidled up to the bar; Sasuke was just about to order a drink when an ear-splitting shriek came from behind him.

Turning around abruptly, Sasuke found himself face-to-face with a woman he'd never seen before—but who nevertheless seemed uncannily familiar

"SORA-KUUUUUUN! WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Sasuke did not need to use his sensing abilities to ascertain who it was. _Oh Kami, I was hoping we wouldn't run into these kids... We should have made henges!_

Sasuke blinked and looked at Kasumi, clad in the elaborate pink patchwork rags of a hobo, flanked on either side by Gorou and Haruki. _Well, time for plan 'Stardust' I guess; not that I have a friggin' choice._

Naruto looked at Sasuke with confusion; Sasuke merely held up a hand to stall his friend and turned his attention to Kasumi. He saw that she was several years younger than he, probably no older than eighteen; her long golden hair was bound in myriad beaded braids, and she wore an obscene amount of gaudy jewelry. But before Sasuke could speak, Kasumi threw her arms around him, squeezing the air out of his lungs.

"THANK KAMI!" she raved. "Oh Sora-kun, we thought that the psycho-killer man had abducted you—" Kasumi broke down into incoherent weeping before she could finish the thought. Sasuke could feel her tears staining his black shirt.

"Sora-_kun?"_ Naruto whispered, grinning. Sasuke glared at Naruto before clearing his throat and prying himself out of the patchouli-infused arms of his captor.

"Ah, miss? Do you know my brother, Sora?"

Kasumi sniffled. She looked up into Sasuke's face and began wailing again. "Oh no, you're _not_ Sora at all, you're not _blind... _Oh…"

Gorou—or was it Haruki? He could never tell those two apart, and he doubted the ability of sight would help. In any event, one of Kasumi's beau's wrapped an arm around her. He turned to Sasuke and muttered, "You said you were Sora-kun's brother?"

Sasuke nodded. "My friend and I," he said, gesturing to Naruto, "have been scouring the countryside looking for him. He's blind, but he loves to travel, despite the danger. And even though I told him it wasn't safe—"

At this, Naruto broke in, attempting to play along with the story—much to Sasuke's chagrin. "You see, Sora-_kun_ is…how shall I say it? He's a bit mentally unstable; we've come to bring him home."

Sasuke glowered at Naruto. _Mentally unstable my ass. You're dead when this is all over. _ Masking his ire, Sasuke asked, "Have you seen Sora, then?"

As Kasumi continued to weep into her lover's shoulder, Gorou replied, "Sora-kun traveled with us for a short time. He became part of our band—"

Naruto chortled before crying out, "Oi, he joined your _band?_"

_Naruto. You—are—so—dead. _ Sasuke, not trusting his voice to remain calm, said nothing.

"Yes, we're the Traveling Stardust Experience!" Kasumi replied brightly, perking up upon mention of her group. "Have you heard of us? We're _super_ famous. Sora-kun joined us—he was a really great musician... But just as we were going to play our first gig, the psycho-killer came and used some kind of sorcery to make everyone pass out. When we came to, Sora-kun was gone and no one had any idea where he went." She ended her speech with a morose sniffle.

Sasuke thanked Kami that he had erased the memories of the two men he had interrogated about Yuki's whereabouts; otherwise, their cover would have been blown.

"Are you sure he didn't just run off?" Sasuke queried.

Kasumi, grief-stricken once more, shook her head. "He left behind his mini-guitar. He would have never left his instrument behind..." Kasumi wiped her eye with a grimy sleeve and continued in a hushed tone, "We think he's been kidnapped."

Sasuke sighed. _Damn it. It's not a mini guitar. It's a mandola. You people have no class. _He cleared his throat and replied instead, "That's terrible."

Kasumi nodded. "I know! And he was going to join our love circle too..."

Naruto, who at this point had been served a drink, began choking on his beverage. He did manage to get out, between coughing spasms, "Love...circle?"

"Yes, we're polyamorous," Kasumi stated gravely.

Before Naruto could say anything further, Sasuke whapped him on the back—ostensibly to help clear his coughing fit.

Sasuke turned towards the musicians and replied through clenched teeth, "So. Do you have any idea of where we might be able to find my brother?"

Kasumi, ever the talkative one, replied brightly, "Oh yes! I was just talking to someone at the bar today—it seems the Hill People have caught the psycho killer. You should talk to them. They'll be able to help you, for sure."

At this, every head in the bar seemed to turn towards them. Sasuke felt extremely uncomfortable. He quietly replied, "I see. Well then we should go ask the Hill People if they've seen my brother..."

Kasumi reached into her oversized purse and withdrew a violin shaped case. "Here—this is Sora's mini-guitar. You should have it..."

Haruki, who until this point had remained silent, stepped forward. "Please tell Sora-kun to come back to us...he was a really great mini-guitar player."

_It's a mandola! A man-do-la, damn it! You people are idiots!_ Masking his irritation, Sasuke replied, "We'll do our best."

"I just hope he's okay," Kasumi whispered.

Sasuke was noticing that he and Naruto were attracting too much attention from the other bar-goers. He quickly bade his old traveling companions goodbye before dragging Naruto out of the bar and into the cool evening air.

"Eh, Sasuke-kun?"

"If you so much as breathe a word about what you heard in there, I will kill you."

Naruto grinned. "I was just going to say you have...ah...interesting friends." Naruto's mirth faded quickly though, in light of the new information. "So. We've got some intel now; but where do you think the Hill People live?"

Sasuke gestured towards the looming foothills in the distance. "We'll start up there. If they're called the Hill People…they probably live in the hills."

The two began walking in silence, the light of the waning moon illuminating their footsteps.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

"Love circle?"

Sasuke hit him in the shoulder very, _very_ hard. "Let's just concentrate on the mission!" Sasuke growled; he knew this information was going to be used against him when they got home, he just knew it.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Yuki-san!"<p>

Yuki came jogging up to the training field. "Sorry I'm a bit late, Cho-san—I had to have a word with Kakashi sensei..."

Cho uncrossed her arms and sighed. "It's okay, we've still got a little time before Konohamaru-sensei and Tadashi-no-idiot gets here. Here's the plan..."

As Cho whispered in her ear, Yuki only listened with half of her attention; she was still was still reeling a bit from Kakashi-sensei's story. _I guess it isn't so terrible that dad has Ryuu's eyes. And I guess…I guess I'm less angry at otousan..._

It was also nice to feel understood by Kakashi—after all, he had lost not one, but _all_ of his teammates, and eventually his sensei as well. Yuki shuddered; if it hadn't been for the mysterious ninja who had rescued her, Yuki might have ended up like Kakashi—or worse. Yuki would have probably died herself without the woman's intervention.

When her thoughts turned to the events of that fateful day, the mysterious kunoichi stuck in Yuki's mind. Yuki couldn't help but think that she _should _be somewhere else; that Konoha was a prison and the mountains were freedom. _Mountains? I've never been to any mountains... _Suddenly, images of rolling mountains popped into her mind, and though she had never seen them before in her life, they seemed so _real_...

Yuki shook her head.

"And that's the plan, do you roger?"

"Sorry, I spaced-out," Yuki replied sheepishly. "Could you explain it again?"

"Usually you're not the one to zone-out at the beginning of a mission," Cho chided gently, before going over all the details again; Yuki smiled mischievously. "Yuki, do you have it all now?"

Yuki nodded. "Yep. You're a genius."

Cho blushed. "Here comes sensei and Tadashi. Act natural."

"Oi! Good morning, trolls," Konohamaru called. Tadashi stood behind him, silent. After the girls murmured their greeting, their sensei explained the rules of the spar. Rule number one: taijutsu only. Rule number two: keep it friendly.

"And last but not least, rule number three..." Konohamaru scratched his chin, his eyes clouded in thought. "Um...okay, there is no rule number three. I guess that makes two rules. Cho and Yuki, why don't you go ahead and spar first?"

Yuki schooled her features to remain smooth, but inside she was seething. Why should the rookie get the advantage of watching her and Cho spar, thereby learning all their moves? She resolved to hide her truly good hand-to-hand combinations until it was time to spar with the enemy.

Cho and Yuki stepped forward in the field, bowing respectfully to each other before they began. It was not a spar to write home about; both girls went easy on each other, and in a few moments Konohamaru stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

"Okay, that's enough, next I'd like Cho—"

Cho waved effusively and broke in, "Oi, sensei, I think I twisted my ankle. Let Yuki-san spar with Tadashi-san!" She hobbled over to the sidelines with a less-than-convincing affect of a peg-legged pirate.

"Cho, if you don't want to spar, no need to lie to me." Konohamaru tried to restrain his ire from leaking into his words as he continued, "Yuki, Tadashi, you're up next. And please _remember_ rule number two..." He shot Yuki a meaningful glance, who returned it with a smile, feigning innocence. _Heh, come on sensei; what's a little hazing between friends?_

* * *

><p>"Okay, now <em>I<em> feel like we're being watched..." Naruto spared a paranoid glance over his shoulder. Sasuke sighed and held out a gloved hand; a moment later his summon spiraled down lazily from the air to land on his leather gauntlet. She screeched something in Sasuke's ear before taking to the skies again.

"Well, what did the feather brain say?"

"There's no one following us." Sasuke shook his head. "Though you're welcome to go into Sage Mode if you think—"

Naruto brushed the thought aside with the wave of his hand. "Nah. I think it's just nerves...after all...if what that hippie chick said is correct, then my son's killer..." He let the words trail off.

They walked on in companionable silence for a while. Sasuke concentrated on finding what seemed to be a well-disguised garden that his summons had spotted from the air. _It shouldn't be far now...we're just about to crest the third ridge—_

Suddenly, a growl from the underbrush punctuated his thoughts. Instinctively, Sasuke and Naruto stood back-to-back and assumed defensive positions, weapons at the ready.

"Show yourself!" Naruto barked, his voice ringing with the accustomed authority of a Hokage.

"Put your weapons down, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun." From the shadows stepped out a pair of small black cats. They didn't remain miniature for long. Once they stepped out of the undergrowth, they rapidly grew to the size of jungle cats, until they stood eye-to-eye with Sasuke and Naruto.

"What? Amaya, Tama… I didn't summon you…"

Amaya, the elder cat summons, exhaled roughly. "No. No, you didn't."

"What the fuck!" Naruto's incredulous gaze traveled between the cats.

"What are you two...?" Sasuke tried to form a coherent sentence, but the surprise was rendering him speechless.

"Please don't ask who summoned me. I've been sent to tell you to turn back."

"Are you in league with Madara?" Naruto shouted, his eyes flashing.

"Naruto-kun," Amaya purred, "Madara has killed off about half of my clan. If he could, he would kill me, too."

"Does that mean," Naruto gasped, pointing to the panther, "that Madara is alive?"

If it was possible for a cat to roll her eyes, Sasuke believed that he had just witnessed it. "I cannot answer that question. But I will tell you that if you try to travel onwards, I will have to fight you."

Sasuke strode forward angrily and spat, "Now see here—you can't fight against me! We have a contract!"

"However," Amaya replied evenly, "The one who summoned me has a contract that is older than yours."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke countered. The only clan who ever held contracts with the cats were the Uchiha. "Do you mean to tell me there are other Uchiha—"

"Sasuke," Amaya spoke in a quiet, menacing tone, "I cannot answer that. Please leave. _Now_." Tama, Amaya's daughter and Yuki's summoning animal, looked worriedly between her mother and the humans.

Naruto leapt onto a nearby stump and pointed towards Amaya as he yelled, "Now see here. You _will _tell me if Madara is controlling you!"

"As I've said before, Madara—"

"We have no reason to believe you!" Naruto replied hotly.

Sasuke clenched his teeth. Was it true? Was Madara controlling the summons? If so, then Yuki was in terrible danger—to think his daughter had been surrounded by Madara's servants this whole time—or worse! He didn't know what to think, but one thing was certain—the summons could not be trusted.

Amaya sighed. "Then it looks like we have no other option but to fight."

Naruto nodded. "Seems like it."

Sasuke looked desperately between the blond and the pair of felines, but had no idea how to stop the impending brawl. If they wanted to get information on Ryuu's killer, then they would have to fight their way past the summons.

"Watch out for them, Naruto—the cats can use katon similar to the Uchiha fire style jutsu; as you've seen, they can change size at will."

Naruto nodded grimly. "Got it. Let's do this."

* * *

><p><em>an cliff hanger no jutsu! :X_

_Please review:)_


	24. Chapter 24: Gifts

_a/n Hi friends! Welcome back to this fic! Well, today has been a really lovely and mellow birthday; I slept in late, had breakfast with friends, and played in the snow. And now, le fanfic. Good times, good times:) _

_Things have been busy for both me and my beta, so it looks like I'll be updating about every two weeks. I worked really hard on this chapter (I think I've gone through it about ten times, no joke) and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I do hope you will enjoy it!_

_Special thanks to **Uchiha.S** who is my awesome beta! Thanks also to my wonderful readers and reviewers for their PM's and reviews; you guys make my day._

_I've been getting some really great constructive criticism about this fic, which is thrilling. Please don't hesitate to let me know how you think this story could be improved! I want to make this fic enjoyable for all my wonderful readers!_

_Anyways, enjoy! **And sorry for the false update; ff net was being lame T-T**  
><em>

_Published to "Your Long Journey" by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 24: <strong>Gifts<strong>_

_So the lady and I, we traveled south,_

_To the Mountains of the Aether;_

_And there we build a home,_

_Among the wild roses and the heather._

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse XI_

Yuki struck a defensive position and waited for Tadashi to attack. He hesitated at first, then flew at her like a rabid bird—not that she had a problem defending herself against the jerk. No, she would never admit to that. She might say that he gave her a run for her money, but overall, she was still extremely confident, even as the match wore on.

Yuki wished she could have spared a look at Cho, but she had to trust that her teammate was preparing her part of the plan. She dared not look away from Tadashi, whose furious fists increased in ferocity as the match wore on.

According to the plan, Yuki was supposed to stick to defense. But when Yuki started thinking about what Tadashi had said about Ryuu-kun—about how the Ryuu had been a bad influence on her—Yuki began to lose her patience. Yuki did not take kindly to affronts on her own person, but when they were combined with insults about her dead teammate? That was unforgivable.

Some might have said that Yuki was overreacting, but Yuki would have told anyone who stated this to go fuck themselves. How dare a new, _supposed_ teammate look down the bridge of his aristocratic nose upon Ryuu? _Ryuu-kun saved my life...he's a million times the ninja this punk will ever be..._ And with that thought, Yuki delivered a particularly devastating kick to Tadashi's abdomen.

Startled, Tadashi grunted and jumped back, clutching his stomach. Konohamaru was about to call off the match, but Tadashi waved his hand. "I'm—ah—fine," he managed between gulping breaths. "Let's keep—ah—going."

Yuki smiled—not a polite grin, but a feral showing of teeth. "Sure," she murmured.

Their sensei hesitated a moment before nodding.

Yuki went back to playing defense—after all, it wouldn't do any good to hit Tadashi with another rib-cracking kick before their plan had come to fruition. Just as Yuki was losing her cool, she heard the ringing screech of a hawk swooping down over their heads. Yuki whipped out her ninja wire while Tadashi was distracted by the bird and bound the poor boy with ease. _Now that was too easy. Guess graduating early from the academy wasn't the best idea, was it Tadashi-kuuuun?_

Tadashi hit the earth with a loud thud. Before he had time to register what had happened, the bird swooped down, perched on his head, and took a decidedly large shit all over his perfectly groomed hair before alighting again. There was a moment of stunned silence.

Tadashi blinked.

Then, Tadashi—genius of the Hyuga clan—began to cry like a little girl.

Yuki noted out of the corner of her eye that Cho was leaning up against a tree and smiling broadly; Cho caught her gaze and gave her a weary thumbs up. _That mind-body transfer jutsu sure comes in handy. Well, I guess that's Team Kunoichi one, Tadashi a big, fat zero._

Afterwards, Cho would tell Yuki that she felt kind of bad about the whole thing—especially after their sensei's lecture, when Konohamaru had figured out what they had been up to—but right then, as Yuki watched Tadashi bawl his eyes out...

It was a priceless moment.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was panting heavily. Perhaps he wasn't in the best of shape, or maybe the cat summons were stronger than he remembered; in any event, he was growing weary of the fight. Naruto, on the other hand, had barely broken a sweat. But then again, Naruto's opponent, the young cat Tama, seemed to be going easy on him. <em>Shit...<em>

Amaya noted Sasuke's fatigue and ventured, "Are you ready to turn back yet, Sasuke-chan?"

That got his blood boiling. "What?" he spat. "I won't be finished until I show you who is the master and who is the pet!"

Amaya's eyes narrowed. "Pet, eh?" If cats could crack their knuckles, Sasuke swore that was precisely what Amaya did with her paws. "Neko arts—ghostly fire jutsu!"

"Fire release—fire ball jutsu!"

Sasuke's nostrils were filled with the stench of burning hair, but whether it was solely human or feline, he was not certain. Sasuke coughed, and waited for the smoke to clear. When it did, it revealed the form of a partially singed panther. Up until this point, the two had only been using taijutsu moves; Sasuke supposed that he and Amaya were now officially finished with going easy on each other.

Amaya grimaced, and suddenly the world lurched; Amaya's form disappeared, and instead, a flock of crows flapped wildly about his head.

_Genjutsu..._ It had been quite some time since he had been placed under a visual genjutsu; still, Sasuke had been one of the best genjutsu users in his day. He hoped his skill with illusion hadn't decayed too much with old age and a decade of blindness.

"Kai!" Sasuke shouted. However, the illusion remained.

A voice called, seemingly coming from all directions at once, "Turn back, Sasuke-kun." The velvety cool tones sounded all too familiar; he recognized it as his brother's own voice, even if Itachi himself was nowhere in sight.

"Amaya! How dare you use Itachi's voice in your damned genjutsu!"

The repugnance of the situation came over Sasuke then. Didn't Amaya see that it was imperative for them to gather more information on Ryuu's killer, Yuki's potential abductor? Who the fuck was controlling the summons? And to add insult to injury, he was stuck inside a genjutsu with the voice of his long dead brother ringing in his ears—the brother he had killed with his own two hands to gain newfound sight, all those many years ago.

Perhaps it was desperation, or rage, or indignation, or simply madness—perhaps all three. All Sasuke knew was that a roar left his lips as he gathered chakra into his system. If he managed to disrupt the flow of chakra in his body with a huge surge, the illusion would be broken. And so he collected all the power in his body he could muster—

Except that as his chakra network became flooded with energy, the vessels leading up to his eyes suddenly lit up like a match torching dry tinder.

His roar of defiance became a howl of pain, as his ocular circuitry became overwhelmed—his nerves burned and he sank to his knees, clutching at his eyes. He dimly noted that blood was trickling down his face before he blacked out completely.

* * *

><p>Sasuke awoke with a groan. He tried to blink, but there were bandages over his eyes; he was bathed in darkness, and he had no idea where he was. All he knew was that his throat was parched.<p>

He molded sensory chakra and searched, but his reserves were too low; all he received in his mind's eye was a fuzzy picture of his surroundings. He raised a shaky arm and blindly cast about for any clue as to where he was when suddenly, a warm hand caught his own.

"Thank goodness," a weary voice breathed.

"Naruto?"

"None other. How are you feeling?"

"Water."

Naruto rolled his eyes and handed the Uchiha a plastic cup of water. "Idiot, what kind of answer is that? You can't be feeling water."

Sasuke ignored him and chugged the water. After finishing the cup with a satisfied, "ah," he raised a hand up to his face, realizing it was still sticky with sweat and dried blood. "Where—"

"Konoha hospital."

"What—"

"You started hemorrhaging out of your eye sockets."

"Oh." Sasuke placed the cup down on what he assumed was a nightstand and sank back into his pillows. "The mission?"

Naruto shook his head. "Aborted for now. Though I'll probably send Shino and company out tomorrow..."

Sasuke winced. "Shit. I'm sorry..."

"Don't be." Naruto placed a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "I'm just glad you're okay."

There was a long pause before Naruto continued, "Also…I hirashined to the old Uchiha warehouse—I wanted to ask Nekobaa some questions. I hope you're not mad…"

"What did she say?" Normally, Sasuke would have been irate if Naruto had gone to the Uchiha warehouse without his permission; but, things being what they were, Sasuke didn't care about formalities. He just wanted answers.

"The Nekobaa—she wasn't there. The whole warehouse was…gone," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke exhaled sharply. He could have figured as much: the cat summons had had plenty of time to warn the Nekobaa to make a run for it. She had obviously been in cahoots with the summons. If Sasuke hadn't been so weak, if he had been able to win against Amaya, they wouldn't be in this position.

Damn it all! He had just completely ruined their mission. Now the enemy (and whoever else was out there) knew about their activities via the treacherous cats. Any new expedition into the Akash mountain ranges would be doomed to meet with additional failure. Sasuke sent a silent conciliatory prayer to Ryuu's spirit; before he could further depress himself, he heard the door creak open.

"Sasuke! You're awake!"

"Sakura…"

Even without sight or using sensory chakra, he could tell that Sakura had her hands on her hips. "Damn it, Sasuke, you had me so _worried!_" She flung her arms around him. "Only your second mission and this is how you come home!"

Sasuke frowned. "I didn't do this on purpose, you know."

"Teme! The correct answer is, 'I'm sorry!'" Naruto chided with a strained chuckle.

Said Teme sighed. "Sorry?" He was unnerved by his teammate's forced lightness, given the situation; he wished they were mad at him, instead of being so forgiving. He clenched his hands and twisted the starched bedsheets.

Sakura shook her head, somewhat amused, but mostly just relieved. "It's okay, Sasuke. Don't worry about it. Let's get these bandages off of your face; I want to make sure the surgery went well."

"Surgery?" Sasuke asked. Kami, how badly had he injured himself? The truth was, Sasuke hardly remembered anything at all about what happened on their mission...

Sakura "tsk tsked" to herself as she began removing the bandages. "From what I can tell, you funneled chakra into your eyes, for crying out loud!"

Ah. Now he remembered. He had been caught in a particularly shitty genjutsu and had overloaded his circuits while trying to override his chakra network. Although to the best of his recollection, the chakra shooting up into his ocular nerves had been quite an accident.

"Oops..."

Sakura snorted. "Oops indeed, Sasuke-kun. You should have seen Naruto-kun—he practically wore a groove out in the hallway from his nervous pacing while you were unconscious." Sakura's voice lost a little of her forced mirth as she reiterated, "You really had me worried..."

In an attempt to lighten the mood, Naruto offered, "It's handy that you're married to the best medic in the village, eh Sasuke?"

Sasuke chewed the inside of his cheek but remained silent. Finally, the last bandage was removed.

"Okay silly, you can open your eyes now," Sakura called softly.

Slowly, slowly, he cracked open his eyes. Thank Kami, he could still see. He hadn't realized how attached he'd gotten to his newfound sight, and he caught himself releasing a breath that he had not realized he had been holding in. His trepidation dissolving in the dim hospital light, he blinked, carefully. He turned towards Sakura in time to see her worried face turn to an expression of shock. He blinked some more and spun to face Naruto, who was making choking sounds.

With a bird-like motion, Sasuke cocked his head to the side and regarded his friends with curiosity. "Um...is something wrong?" Because he could see just fine—he wasn't sure what the problem was.

"Sasuke..." Sakura whispered, her eyes wide.

"What? What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, his anxiety mounting.

"Whoa," Naruto mumbled, "that's totally awesome." Naruto shoved his face close to Sasuke's; his cerulean eyes darted to and fro, searching Sasuke's face. Unlike Sakura, Naruto looked excited, like a dog who had just found a new toy to play with.

Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep, even breath. "Could someone please tell me what is going on?"

"Your eyes," Sakura replied slowly, "They aren't blue anymore—they're white..."

* * *

><p>Konohamaru had been in mid-lecture about how wrong it was to haze their new teammate, when the Black Ops member had shown up to take Yuki to her mother at the hospital. Yuki had been all too happy to leave the training grounds. However, when she reached the hospital and a red-eyed Saki had met her in front of the operating room, her cheerful mood quickly dissipated.<p>

"What do you mean, Otousan could have died!"

Saki wiped a tear from her cheek and replied quietly, "That's what Shizune said. He injured his eyes—and there was blood—and mom was operating on him—"

Yuki reached out and placed an arm on the wall to steady herself. "Where is he now?"

Saki took a deep breath. "He just woke up..."

"So he's okay, then?" Saki nodded. "Damn it, don't _worry_ me like that, Saki!" Yuki exhaled sharply—from the way Saki had been going on about their father's close brush with death... Yuki shook her head to rid herself of morbid thoughts, and then gestured to the door. "So—he's in there?"

Saki nodded again.

"Well, let's go in then—" Yuki reached for the door knob, but Saki grabbed her hand.

"Shizune said to be prepared to see—"

But Saki couldn't finish her sentence; Yuki threw off her hand and wrenched the door open. "Otousan?" she called.

"Trolls, you really do care. You came to visit." Sasuke coughed after he said this, as if embarrassed; he did not wear a scarf over his eyes, but his eyes were closed all the same.

"You sound terrible," Yuki remarked.

"Thanks." Sasuke sighed and sank back down into the bed. Beside him, Sakura shot a worried glance between her husband and her children.

Saki ran forward and flung her arms around her father; Sasuke responded with an "Oooph," and hugged her back, carefully.

"Saki-chan! Careful with your father! I just fixed him," Sakura wailed.

"It's fine, Sakura-chan," Sasuke replied softly.

"Hey, otousan, why don't you open your eyes?" Saki asked, looking up into his face.

Yuki, who had been observing the scene from the doorway, tensed. Her eyes narrowed; if her father had done something to injure Ryuu's eyes, Yuki would never forgive him.

Sasuke grimaced. He was not looking forward to a repeat of what had transpired when he had opened his eyes the first time with Naruto and Sakura. However, it was only a matter of time before they found out on their own. And so, he opened his eyelids, one eye at a time, revealing his bleached, pupiless eyes.

"Dad—did you ruin Ryuu's eyes?" Yuki asked in an accusatory voice.

Sakura smiled sadly. "Actually, I think he activated them..."

Saki looked up at her father, her mouth shaped in a little 'o' of surprise as she met his gaze. "He did what now?" Saki breathed.

Yuki blinked in confusion. "Don't tell me he has the byakugan...?"

Sasuke waved his oldest daughter over, who contrary to his wishes stayed rooted to her spot in the doorway.

"Really guys—" Sasuke was about to tell them to calm down, but it was precisely during that awkward moment when Naruto and Hinata entered the hospital room.

"Oi, Sasuke-kun, I brought a byakugan expert!" Naruto called cheerfully from the threshold. Hinata stood behind him, her mouth hanging open in surprise as she activated her byakugan.

"Um...Naruto?" Hinata managed in a whisper.

"Yep?"

"That's not a byakugan..."

"What?" Sakura and Naruto chorused. Sasuke would have made a joke about their synchronized response if he hadn't been the butt of their curiosity in the first place.

"So then...what is it?" Sakura asked in a hushed tone.

Yuki looked at Saki, who shrugged in confusion; the two Uchiha children stood in silence, unnerved that the adults in the room did not have control of the situation.

"Um...everyone?" Sasuke called in a humorless voice. "Maybe you can poke and prod your latest science project here later. I need to get some rest—"

"Oh! Of course, sorry Sasuke, I just got excited!" Naruto called with his usual effusive tone. "We should all—"

Sasuke winced. "I hadn't finished yet. I need to get some rest _after_ I talk to Yuki."

_Shit. Has Otousan learned about the prank me and Cho pulled on Tadashi? Damn, word gets around here fast—_

But Yuki had no time to muse—her father turned towards her and stated gravely, "Yuki. I forbid you from calling your summons anymore."

"WHAT?" If she had been expecting a lecture or even a punishment, it certainly wouldn't have been _that._ She continued in a loud voice, "I understand what I did was less than professional, but I hardly think it warrants such a harsh consequence, otousan!"

Sasuke eyed her askance; she found his bleached eyes disconcerting, but held his gaze with her own anyway, defiant.

Thankfully, Naruto broke in. "Yuki, dearest. We have reason to believe your summons are in league with the enemy. This isn't a punishment. This is an order from your Hokage—to protect you. You are, under no circumstances, allowed to call on _any_ of your summons—including Tama."

It was silent for a moment. Yuki's eyes grew wide in disbelief, even as she fought to retain her cool exterior. "What...?"

Sasuke cleared his throat and muttered, "The ones who attacked us…were Amaya and Tama."

"No! That's impossible..." Yuki trailed off lamely. Her mind was suddenly flooded with memories—she remembered the night after Ryuu's death, when the adults had been too depressed and the younger ninja had all had red eyes. That night, only Tama understood her; only Tama sat with her in shared, somber silence. Tama, who had trained tirelessly with her during the nights when she couldn't sleep—Tama, who had fought alongside her, risking her life for Yuki. Tama was her _comrade_—no, not just a comrade, but her very _best friend_!

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, I refuse to believe that Tama and Amaya had any hand in this!" Yuki all but spat.

Naruto sighed. "I know you find this hard to believe, but regardless, an order is an order. Furthermore, I'd like to put a hiraishin seal on you tonight; not only will it help me to locate you in case of a crisis, but I'm going to modify it so that I'll know instantly if your summons show up."

Yuki's normally stoic facade cracked. "NO!"

"Yuki!" Sakura called, shooting her a harsh look.

The eldest Uchiha child made a pained choking sound, then bowed her head. "Please forgive me, Hokage-sama." From the corner of her eye, Yuki could see that Saki was shooting her a pitying glance. Yuki flicked her eyes away from her sister and focused them on a scuff on the floor.

Naruto reached out and placed a large hand on her shoulder. "It's all right, Yuki-chan. Let's leave your father to rest; we'll put that seal on you in the other room."

"Yes sir—Hokage-sama," Yuki ground out between clenched teeth.

Yuki closed her eyes and hung her head, bewildered. She knew, if she opened her eyes, hot tears might spill out, so she kept her eyes closed. Why was this happening? How could any of this be true? As in response to her question, fragments of a reoccurring dream surfaced in her consciousness:

_They swooped down like a pair of hawks, landing gracefully on the edges of a small village. Aya turned towards Yuki and spoke, "You need to come here as quickly as possible. Remember my words. Before one month passes, you must leave your village— you and your grandmother. Walk with your back to the rising sun for one day, then march due south for another. When you first lay eyes on the Akash mountain range, summon Tama and ride. She knows the way." Aya smiled again, but then winced. "I don't have any more time to explain, and I won't be able to come to you again. I know you must have many questions, but you just have to trust me. Okay?"_

_Yuki looked at the woman with trepidation. "But I—"_

_Aya shook her head sadly. "I have to go. Remember. It's unbelievably important that you come before the month is out. Otherwise, both of our villages will be destroyed. You will come, won't you?"_

_Yuki's mouth opened of its own accord. "Y-Yes!"_

_The small woman gave Yuki another sad, soft smile. "Good."_

Yuki blinked profusely. She had never been able to recall the dream in such precise detail before. She had wondered, initially, why the strange woman in the dream had told her to walk for two days before summoning Tama: it all became clear in light of recent events. Did Aya know that the adults would come to distrust the summons? Was the dream really a message from the mysterious ninja who had saved her life, or was it merely a passing fancy, a figment induced by stress? _Aya...why wasn't I able to remember her name until now?_ Strange images of mountains and flying filled her head—

"Yuki, are you all right?"

Yuki shook her head and brought herself back to present time. "I'm fine," she snapped. She raised her head and schooled her features to remain impassive. "Sorry, I'm just...surprised at the recent developments."

Sakura took her daughter's arm. "Well, let's leave Sasuke-kun in peace. There's an empty room at the end of the hall that will do for the sealing. I'll assist you, Naruto-kun."

"Sounds good, Sakura-chan." Naruto shot a worried glance at Sasuke, who merely shrugged in return. The assembled family members filed out of the small hospital room, while Yuki fought to maintain her composure, trying not to see the mountain ranges on the insides of her eyelids.

* * *

><p>Sasuke came home from the hospital that night, feeling weak but mostly intact. Sakura had hired a civilian girl to look after the children that evening, so he felt no pressure to cook diner or do any of his usual tasks. Instead, he washed the smell of hospital, blood, and general griminess from his body in the shower. As he toweled off, he caught a glance of himself in the bathroom mirror. A stranger's eyes met his own; they were not black, as had been the eyes of his birth or his brother; nor were they the blue, cheerful eyes he had so recently received from Ryuu-kun—Ryuu-kun, who theoretically did <em>not<em> have the Byakugan, or any ocular jutsu to speak of.

No, instead, pupiless eyes with pale lavender irises, ringed with a thin band of dark violet, met his gaze. He blinked at himself. He tried to stifle the voice inside of his head that asked him, _and who is this and who is he; what is he seeing and who is seeing who_, deciding that his weary brain could not handle any existential crises at the moment. However, despite himself and his delicate health, his curiosity got the better of him; he couldn't help but funnel a bit of chakra into his eyes—

It stung a little, but it didn't hurt, so Sasuke didn't stop. Surprisingly, the veins around his eyes didn't bulge, which confirmed Hinata's assessment that he did not, in fact, have the byakugan. Instead, his bleached irises seemed to pulse. The purple ring around the irises began to expand and bleed purple, until the entirety of his eye—whites included—were dyed a pale violet.

"What the fuck?" he muttered to the reflection in the mirror.

But despite himself, he continued to funnel chakra into his ocular nerves. His vision blurred, but not painfully so. When it cleared, the mirror displayed undulating orbs of purple, with two indigo colored concentric circles ringing his irises.

It looked like a freak version of the rinnegan, minus a few rings.

And before he could turn the damn thing off, the door to the bathroom opened. Sasuke shivered as the cool air intruded into the room, displacing the warm humidity from his shower. He turned, slowly, to meet Sakura. She had been holding a hairdryer, but when she met his gaze, she dropped it. The plastic appliance hit the floor with a dull thud; a chunk of it broke off and ricocheted off the wall to land on Sasuke's foot, its sharp edge drawing blood. He didn't notice.

"S-Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke closed his eyes. _This must have been what Naruto felt like when he told everyone he had a freaky demon fox living in his guts, _he mused wryly.

Just what the hell was going on?

* * *

><p>Yuki did not cry. Ninja did not cry. It was one of the rules in the shinobi code of conduct. Even as a child, she never wept when she had scraped her knee or suffered any of the small injustices that usually set off temper tantrums in young ones. She hadn't even cried at Ryuu's funeral. Shinobi. Did. Not. Cry.<p>

But no matter how many times she repeated this mantra, the fact remained that Uchiha Yuki lay on her bed, smothering her face with a pillow so that no one would hear her pathetic sobs. Maybe it was just the build up of intensity finally breaking; maybe the events of the past few weeks were catching up with her; perhaps Yuki was simply going crazy. All she knew for certain was that everything in her life seemed just plain _wrong_.

First her sensei had yelled at her (Her sensei—yelled at her, Yuki of the perfect grade point average!). Then, her father had been severely injured by _her summons_ and had come home with a mysterious new doujutsu. Even the Hokage had ganged up against her. It was times like these that she would sneak out of the house and run along the moon-drenched streets of Konoha until she came to the training grounds, there to summon Tama.

Yuki sniffled and fingered the hiraishin tattoo on her bicep. For all intents and purposes, Yuki was now a prisoner. She gazed at the four walls of her bedroom, then proceeded to smoother her face in her pillow once more.

_Shinobi don't cry..._

The thought echoed dully in her head as she fell into a sea of deep, troubled dreams. There was a man who appeared in a field of crows; he looked like her otousan but older, the lines of his face more deeply etched. He smiled down at her and placed his finger on her forehead—she could _see_ a dark crow with wings of black fire and a glowing, purple skull for a head fly into her brain from the man's touch. He had called her his niece and said that she would need to use this jutsu...

But what jutsu was he talking about? What did the crow have to do with anything? And didn't he know she just wanted to fly, like a hawk, up to the mountains? Why did her head hurt so much...?

When she woke up in the morning, the sun stung her eyes, and the words of a strange ninja rang in her ears. _Before one month passes, you must leave your village..._

* * *

><p>It must have been two or three in the morning, but Sasuke couldn't sleep. Silently, he exited the bed and entered the bathroom, there to stare at his face in the mirror in the dim light. Despite the fact that he had stopped pushing chakra into his eyes, his irises remained two concentric circles of purple. It seemed as though his eyes did not turn off. <em>Damn.<em>

He left the bathroom, stalked down the hallway, and hovered outside of Yuki's room. He knew the girl had been crying; damn his acute hearing. He didn't blame her, really. For such a young girl, she had gone through a lot in the past few weeks—too much. Although Sasuke had gone through much more at an even younger age...

With all the ninja stealth his body could muster, he opened the door and walked lightly until he stood over his eldest daughter. Her hair stuck out at odd angles, and her pale skin was streaked with tears, glimmering in the moonlight. The poetic part of Sasuke's mind thought about how it looked like her cheeks were covered in iridescent snail trails, and he shook his head.

Sasuke closed his eyes. A barrage of disparate images assailed him, striking him more painfully than any weapons made of steel. He remembered Itachi's bloodied smile and whispered words before he collapsed to his death. The next image came from his dreams, a flock of crows, warning him of impending doom; though whether these dreams presaged events, or was simply the delusions of his own anxiety, he was not sure.

There was more, he couldn't stop the memories: he remembered casting amaterasu at Naruto during the last war, the black fire burning holes in the cliffside—the never ending nightmare flames consuming the battlefield; susanoo aiming arrows at his sensei, at Sakura; a purple skull on fire and grinning wildly, like a mad man—like the Death God himself—

He shook his head. He was the last person on earth who should be trusted with yet _another_ doujutsu. He didn't deserve these eyes, the third pair he had worn in his lifetime. His heart was a black box, and inside were crow feathers, a wilted red rose with bloody thorns, and a lock whose key had been destroyed in his childhood.

He smiled down fondly at his progeny, but the smile faded he began to worry. _If anything should happen to her..._ Sasuke shuddered. What if he was the one who would harm Yuki? After all, he had managed to make attempts on the lives of most of the people he cared about, in the last war. He was not to be trusted—why didn't Naruto and Sakura see that? Why were they so happy about the nebulous new eyes in his head?

Sasuke tried in vain to stifle these thoughts. They pained him more than Ibiki's implements of torture, thoughts that hadn't run through his mind like this in years...

Unbidden, his thoughts turned towards the Nekobaa—about what she had said about the mangekyo sharingan, when Yuki had been busy fighting for the summoning contract. Sasuke's eyes glazed over, and he remembered everything clearly:

_"Sasuke-kun," Nekobaa murmured, "You didn't actually receive the mangekyo through murder. Itachi implanted it in your forehead just before he died...it was a gift. And it wasn't his death that actually activated the doujutsu. It was your grief over his death, later on, that truly awakened it..."_

_Sasuke balled his hands into fists and dug his fingernails into the palms of his hands, scoring red crescent marks into his skin. "I...don't understand..."_

_Speaking slowly, Nekobaa reiterated, "Itachi gave you the mangekyo sharingan. It was your grief that later activated it. I often think that Itachi planned for your mangekyo to awaken much later, perhaps when you were once again fighting for Konoha, and one of your friends inevitably fell in battle—the fate of any shinobi. That death would have lead you back, in your mind, to all the other deaths, and perhaps that would trigger..." _

_Nekobaa trailed off, like the smoke on the end of her pipe. She cleared her throat and continued, "But who can say, really, what might have happened. In any event, when you tell Yuki about Itachi, you can simply tell her he died giving you a gift..." She blew out a plume of smoke and concluded, "And then there wouldn't be any need to tell her the...traditional methods of acquiring the mangekyo."_

_"Moreover," Nekobaa continued, "I believe that since Sasuke's mangekyo was given willingly, the sharingan was made even more powerful. After all, Sasuke-boy was able to use the jutsu many more times than Itachi ever could have..."_

_Sasuke had the strange sensation of vertigo at hearing this, and grabbed a nearby table for support._

_"Sasuke, are you alright?" Naruto asked._

_Sasuke shook himself out of his discomposure, and with effort regained his expressionless appearance. "Yes. I had just never thought about it...that way." Sakura placed her hands on his shoulders, but Sasuke shrugged her off._

_Sasuke had not been prepared to tell Yuki about how he had killed his older brother. It was something he felt overwhelming guilt over, even after all these years; even despite the fact that Itachi had _wanted_ Sasuke to kill him. He, Uchiha Sasuke, had murdered the last remaining member of his family: Sasuke was a murderer. Sasuke noted grimly that this made him less than an ideal parental role model, and he had no idea how to explain it to his daughter, in a way that she might understand—or at the very least, in a way so that she would not run away from him screaming._

_"Sasuke?" Sakura prodded, after a long pause._

_"Hn." Sasuke rose and pretended to be engrossed in exploring a piece of weaponry with his fingers, lost in thought._

Sasuke exhaled sharply, drawing himself out of his memories. It seemed like they had gone to see the Nekobaa lifetimes ago; who could have predicted that everything would have turned out so terribly? Who could have known that the Nekobaa and the cat summons had been plotting against them? Sasuke clenched his hands into fists.

He couldn't trust anyone: not his own summons, not his friends—and especially not himself.

As if his body had a mind of its own, his right hand rose and his index finger touched the place on Yuki's forehead right between her eyebrows. _I don't know if this will work or not..._ After all, he had only seen this particular jutsu once, and he wasn't even sure if he had anything left to give to Yuki. In theory he had used up his sharingan by using izanagi twice in the last war—but maybe that didn't matter. Maybe he could give Yuki this gift…

As Yuki's father, it was his duty to make sure she was safe. With that thought, his resolved was strengthened, and he prayed to the soul of his departed brother to help him.

All at once, his chakra charged down his arm, shining with gold light as it funneled into Yuki's forehead—

"Otousan?" Yuki blinked up at him sleepily. "What...?"

He smoothed her hair down and replied, feigning nonchalance, "Just checking on you."

Yuki ran a hand up to her forehead and winced. "I had the strangest dream..." She shook her head. "I'm fine, outousan."

Sasuke blinked, and with his freakish eyes, he swore he saw a swirling, gold light flowing around Yuki's head like an electrified halo. _Maybe it really did work..._

"Good night then, Yuki-chan."

"Mmmm." She rolled over and fell right back to sleep. Sasuke smiled. _I hope Itachi's gift can protect you, Yuki-chan. I hope you're smarter about using it than I was..._

* * *

><p><em>an plot twist no jutsu! Hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let me know via your nice review:)  
><em>


	25. Chapter 25: The Uchiha Underground

_Gosh, sorry for the long wait folks!_

_Special thanks to **Uchiha.S,** my beta, who has to put up with my idiot spelling mistakes. Thanks thanks thanks so much to all my wonderful readers and reviewers; I think I treasure reviews to this story more than any other *sobs loudly*_

_Thanks also to my anonymous reviewer **serenade** for her seriously sweet review:) Since I can't PM you, I'll thank you here. You really made my day!  
><em>

_You guys remember Akemi, from "Ain't Nobody Who Can Sing Like Me," right? Well, she's back and she's got a story to tell. Be sure to pay special attention to the end of the first part; there are some important plot-twists-no-jutsu that happen, whahaha!_

_So thanks guys. Here's the next installment, enjoy!_

* * *

><p>Chapter Twenty-Five: <strong>The Uchiha Underground<strong>

_Singing prayers to the dead,_

_All cold and dumb in their graves;_

_War is the trumpeting of idiots,_

_Her soldiers ignorant slaves._

_~Verse XII of the First Book of Akash_

Yuki blearily regarded her reflection in the mirror, her eyes rimmed with red and swollen from crying all night. She held a container of foundation in her hand, but was unsure of how to wield it. Cosmetics, unlike weapons, were a tool with which she was unfamiliar. Thankfully, despite her ineptitude, after a few swipes with the facial brush she had pilfered from her mother's bathroom, her face began to look less zombie-like.

After finishing her ministrations, Yuki crept down the stairs to the kitchen. She had before her yet another painful day of missions with her so-called 'team'; to say that she was not looking forward to it would be a gross understatement. The day had barely begun, and already she loathed it. After the last creaking stair had been safely and silently navigated, she entered the kitchen and grabbed an apple from a bowl of fruit before making her way to the door—

"Troll, wait."

Yuki barely stifled her groan at the sound of her mother's voice; she had been hoping to avoid Sakura and the rest of her family that morning. Annoyed, Yuki turned around and muttered, "What do you want, okaasan?"

Sakura ignored Yuki's displeasure and replied brightly, "We're visiting Akemi-baachan today, remember? She needs help weeding her garden."

Yuki blinked. There was nothing more in the world that Yuki would rather do than see baachan—in fact, Yuki had a nagging suspicion that it was dreadfully important to see Akemi, for some reason—but work always came before pleasure. "Okaasan, I was going to meet with my team—"

"On a Saturday?" Sakura replied skeptically.

"Oh." Yuki scratched her head; apparently it was the weekend. She felt a bit sheepish, but she brightened at the prospect of seeing her beloved grandmother instead of suffering her team's company. _And if I'm lucky, it will be just mom and I who will go to baachan's house—I don't feel like dealing with anyone else today._ "Okasaan?"

"Hmm?" Sakura asked, pulling on her coat.

Yuki tried to keep her tone even as she asked, "By we, do you mean...?"

"Just you and me," Sakura replied with a grin as she tossed Yuki her own overcoat. Yuki grimaced at having to wear an extra layer, but she put it on all the same.

"What about otousan?"

"Otousan is going to be...resting today, and Hinata-sama is going to be looking after your siblings. It's just me and you, Yuki. Baachan said she wanted to spend some one-on-one time with you today."

Yuki visibly brightened and Sakura nodded to herself. Yuki hadn't gone to see baachan in quite some time, and Sakura was certain the visit would be a balm for Yuki's frayed nerves. Of course, what Sakura had glossed over was the fact that Sasuke was actually going to be _training_ with Naruto while Hinata took the kids to a movie, but Sakura didn't really want to get into the fact that Sasuke had developed a quasi-rinnegan overnight.

The precocious preteen had enough on her plate at the moment, and Yuki could find out all about it once the adults actually figured out what was going on themselves. Sakura felt a pang at that thought, but forced herself to maintain her smile.

"Okay," Yuki replied with a shrug. "I'm ready to go when you are."

Sakura was somewhat surprised that Yuki wasn't going to argue with her, as was her habit, but then Yuki had always been fond of Akemi-baachan. Sakura grinned widely as she remembered bringing Yuki over to Akemi's house after Yuki had just been born, how Yuki had cooed in her arms like a little bird as Akemi bounced her gently.

Truly, Akemi was of no real relation to their family; she was just a little old lady who owned an antiques store in the business district. The first time Sakura had met Akemi, she had been jewelery shopping with Hinata and Ino, both of whom had become recently engaged while she herself was single. (Sakura had been pining after Sasuke, but at that particular moment in time, she hadn't admitted to that fact, even to herself.)

Akemi had revealed that she had been an Uchiha by birth, albeit a lowly craftsperson with no ninjutsu to speak of, who had escaped the infamous massacre by having the good luck of being out of town at the time. When Akemi had returned, she had married a man from the Haruno clan and changed her last name, with no one the wiser.

However, Akemi had retained her sizable collection of Uchiha antiques, and had given a ring that had once belonged to Uchiha Fugaku to Sakura with the request that she give it to Sasuke. Sakura had been avoiding Sasuke at the time, and had hardly wanted to see him, but it was impossible to say no to the kindly old woman.

Finally, through a fortunate confluence of events—that Sakura later found out were the result of Naruto's schemes to get her and Sasuke together— Sakura had given Sasuke the ring, which just so _happened_ to be Fugaku's wedding ring. Sasuke, in turn, had given Sakura Mikoto's ring which he had squirreled away all those years, and the two had become engaged.

Though Akemi was of no real relation to Sakura or Sasuke, they had adopted the old woman as their honorary grandmother. Since Sasuke's parents had passed long ago, and Sakura's own family had all perished in the last war, it seemed especially nice to have found a long-lost grandmother figure. At this point, the elderly woman was nearing her one-hundred-and-fifth birthday, and Sakura's family stopped by her house often to help out with errands.

"Hello? Mom? You zoned out there..." Yuki sighed up at her mother.

"Oh! Sorry," Sakura replied, sheepish. "Yes, why don't we head over now?"

They made their way through the village in thoughtful silence, Sakura chewing over her old memories, and Yuki munching on her apple. However, about halfway through the walk, Sakura eyed her eldest daughter and noticed that Yuki's footfalls were slower than usual. Also, Yuki had a somewhat pained expression on her face; her lips were puckered as if she was in pain.

"Oi, Yuki-chan, is everything alright?" Sakura winced even as she said it. She knew that Yuki's loss of her summons had been a hard blow, and it seemed puerile to have asked her that.

Yuki paused mid-stride and sighed. "Actually, I have a bit of a headache. Would you mind, okaasan?"

"Of course not, Yuki-chan." Sakura almost laughed; as she said "chan," Yuki flinched but did not say anything. Sakura smiled as she placed her hands on Yuki's temples. Some days, Sakura was the only person who could get away with using the informal honorific with her daughter—but only times when they were not being observed, like now.

As she gathered the green glowing chakra into her palms and funneled it into Yuki's head, Sakura's smile faded somewhat. _Her chakra composition is different, somehow..._ But Sakura shook off her anxiety. After all, perhaps this was the normal constellation of ocular nerves at this stage of the sharingan's development. She would have to ask Sasuke about it, later.

Sakura sighed. _Well, even if the composition has changed, I don't see anything that's dangerous. Yuki-chan is probably just exhausted and has a tension headache. Just like her father, this one! _"There sweetheart, how does that feel?"

"Mom!"

"Tch. I can't call my own daughter sweetheart? Fine, I take it back. How does it feel, troll?"

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Much better," Yuki replied, both to the question and to Sakura's phrasing of it. "Thank you, okaasan."

They began walking again, and this time Yuki had more of a spring to her step. In no time at all, they reached the ancient looking wooden building and knocked on the rounded door.

"Akemi-baachan! It's Sakura and Yuki!" Sakura made sure to shout extra loud so that the old woman could hear her; next to her, Yuki winced and held her hands over her ears.

They could hear a soft rustling inside, and after a long pause, the door creaked open. Akemi was smiling brightly with an apron fastened around her waist. For someone approaching her one-hundred-and-fifth birthday, Akemi looked well; though she hobbled as she walked to greet them, she seemed free of pain. Her long gray hair was drawn up into a bun, and though her face was heavily wrinkled, Yuki thought Akemi looked as wonderful as she always had.

"Well hello, my dears! Sakura-chan, you look as beautiful as ever. Oh my, my, Yuki-san, I do believe you've grown even taller. My word! Come in, come in!"

Yuki blushed. "Baachan, it's alright. You can call me Yuki-chan, if you want..."

Akemi paused mid-hobble to shake her head vigorously. "Of course not, dear. I know you don't like that honorific!"

Sakura laughed as she entered the small shop, Yuki following close behind her. Not much had changed in the past decade: the small wooden room was neat and tidy as always with not a speck of dust, the rafters shown as if they had been newly polished, and myriad trays were artfully arranged on the glass countertops, displaying her antique wares.

"Can I bring you ladies any tea?" Akemi asked.

"Oh no, that's all right baachan! We've come to help you with your garden!" Sakura replied, laughing easily.

"What? You two come to visit me and I just make you work all day? Of course not! What kind of tea would you like, dears?"

After Akemi made tea, they sat for a while, exchanging pleasantries, when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Let me get the door for you, baachan!" Sakura called, bolting upright and racing for the door. Yuki rolled her eyes; just as she suspected, it was someone calling Sakura to the hospital for an emergency. Sakura raced back to the main room, gave Akemi a hug, and was off before the old woman could even say goodbye.

Akemi chuckled as the door slammed shut behind Sakura. "Well, looks like Sakura-chan is as busy as ever!" The old woman took a long sip of her tea before continuing, "So, Yuki-san, please, tell me how you've been."

Yuki sighed. _ Where do I start? My best friend died; my dad is an ocular jutsu wielding freak; and my summons are apparently staging a coup d'etat. Gah._ "Um."

Akemi sighed and nodded knowingly. "I've heard about poor Ryuu-kun. I was sorry I couldn't make it to the funeral. He was a lively boy, he was. Though from what I remember, you two didn't get along very well?"

Yuki smiled wistfully. "That's true. Though we became better friends, later..." Yuki trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.

Akemi placed her tea cup down slowly and hobbled over to Yuki's chair before placing a leathery hand on her shoulder. "It must have been hard for you."

Yuki blinked back tears. "Yes, bachaan," she whispered.

"Well now, I don't want to bring up any bad memories!" Akemi stroked Yuki's short hair for a moment before continuing, "Would you like to come help me in the garden?"

Yuki leaned into Akemi's gentle hands combing through her hair before nodding.

The bright sunshine felt good on Yuki's face as she regarded the small garden. Rows of tomatoes were climbing up their circular cages, beans were curled around lattices of string, and best of all, the herb garden—complete with tall peppermint topped with purple flowers, creeping thyme, and other beautiful flowers she could not name— smelled absolutely divine.

Akemi, catching her adopted great-granddaughter's gaze, smiled. "Would you like to work in the herb garden today? It certainly is glorious."

Yuki smiled shyly and nodded. Akemi took a seat on a padded folding chair by the herb garden, while Yuki knelt down on the cool earth looking for weeds.

"Ah yes, Yuki-san, the peppermint has many weeds underneath it that need to be picked. Did you know that peppermint tea is the best cure for a high fever? It's also said to bring joy and happiness to whomever enjoys it." At this, Akemi took a long sniff of the flowering peppermint, then offered the blossom to Yuki who in turn inhaled deeply. The fragrance instantly uplifted her spirits, just as Akemi had said it would.

And so, a few pleasant hours passed. Yuki finished weeding and began watering the plants, while Akemi identified the herbs and told Yuki of their uses.

"Akemi-baachan, what is this tall plant here? Is it a very large carrot?" Yuki stopped beside a plant with umbrella shaped flowers that stood almost as tall as she.

"Very close. That plant is in the carrot family, but it's called Angelica, or Dong Quai. It's also called Lady Of The Mountain by the peoples living in the high country, by the southwest border..." Akemi's eyes seemed to mist over, but in a moment, she smiled.

"Oh." Yuki stopped and sniffed the plant, which had a distinct licorice smell to it. "May I taste some?"

"Of course, dear!"

Yuki cautiously broke off a small branch and chewed slowly. It was almost spicy, but sweet at the same time. "Mmmm. Tastes good!"

Akemi nodded and motioned for the girl to sit beside her. Yuki placed her empty watering can down on a stepping stone and sat on the stone garden bench, relaxed for the first time in ages.

"I can tell that you will be very good with healing herbs one day, just like your mother," Akemi offered with a smile.

Yuki blushed and nodded, silently. While Yuki had been taught the basics of the healing arts, it wasn't one of her main interests. Still, Yuki enjoyed the praise, especially because there seemed to be a dire lack of it in her life at the moment.

They sat a while in pleasant silence. Yuki had a feeling that she had something important to tell her grandmother—something that she had been meaning to say for a long time—but she couldn't quite remember what it was.

Finally, Akemi cleared her throat. "Yuki-san... I'm about to tell you something quite disconcerting. But—I need you to trust me. Can you trust me, Yuki dearest?"

Yuki blinked owlishly at her. "Of course I trust you, baachan. Whatever it is, you can tell me." After all, Yuki had known Akemi-baachan her whole life: baachan never failed to give her the perfect birthday present, and she always had just the right words for when Yuki was feeling down. When Saki had been born, Sakura had fallen ill, and Yuki was taken to Akemi-baachan's house for a week. Though Yuki had been only about three years old at the time, she could remember the week clearly.

"_Akemi-baachan?" Yuki asked timidly._

"_Yes, Yuki-chan?" Akemi called gently as she stirred a pot of soup on the stove._

"_Do you think...will okaasan be alright?"_

_Akemi frowned and stopped stirring before slowly sitting down on a low stool so that she was eye-level with the three-year-old. "Okaasan will be alright. She just needs to rest."_

_Yuki stuck a finger in her mouth and looked up at the kindly old woman. "Promise, baachan?"_

_Akemi smiled. "Of course! I know it right here!" Akemi patted her heart before ruffling Yuki's unruly hair. "Sometimes, the heart knows better than the mind. What does your heart say?"_

_Yuki blinked, and mirroring her grandmother placed her small hand over her heart. "Um...it says, 'I love you grandma!'"_

_Akemi laughed heartily at that and gathered the little one into her lap. "I love you too, Yuki-chan."_

Yuki shook her head at the little memory; in that moment she had realized that oftentimes, Akemi was able to give Yuki many of the things that her own parents could not, like patience, time, and gentleness. It was probably why Yuki was so meek and quiet when she spent time with her grandmother: she had nothing to prove and nothing to hide. She never had any _need_ to hide anything from bachaan, because she knew Akemi would love her no matter what. While her own parents had high expectations and idiosyncratic rules, Akemi had open arms and a non-judgmental smile. And best of all, she always had time for Yuki; whereas Sakura was always busy with the hospital, and her father spent most of his time with her younger siblings.

There was a moment of silence—Yuki finally broke it by reiterating, "Baachan, I think you are one of the only people that I really trust..."

Akemi sighed. "You are too kind, granddaughter." And with that, Akemi made a few hand signs that Yuki didn't recognize before a silvery substance arched up over the garden and formed a dome.

"Baachan—I thought you couldn't do ninjutsu?" Yuki asked, her brows scrunched in confusion.

Akemi sighed again. "It's time I told you the truth, Yuki-san. But you must swear to me that you will tell no one. Swear to me, Yuki-san, on your very life."

Akemi had never spoken like this to her before, and Yuki felt lost. "I—I swear, baachan."

"You see, I have been hiding my true identity from you and your family for a long time now. I am...a true Uchiha." And with that, the old woman closed her eyes, and when she opened them, Yuki gasped.

Akemi's eyes were red with three commas spinning like a pinwheel.

"Who—who are you _really?"_ Yuki whispered, transfixed by her elder's eyes.

Akemi closed her eyes again, and when they opened, her sharingan was gone. She clutched the arms of her chair for support. "Oh my, I hadn't done that in a long, long time. Takes more out of me than it used to." She shook her head and continued, "It's not safe for me to tell you the entire story here, but I'll tell what I can. You know Aya, don't you?"

"You mean—the kunoichi with the sharingan? The one who rescued me?" Yuki squeaked.

Akemi nodded. "She is my granddaughter by blood. I am originally descended from the branch house of the Uchiha, the one that deflected and now roams the Akash foothills."

Yuki's was gaping like a landed fish. Akemi smiled ruefully and continued, "Let me start from the beginning."

* * *

><p>"Naruto, I don't know. Maybe this <em>isn't <em>the rinnegan after all." Sasuke sat down on the ground with a huff. They had been training all morning, and so far, they had not figured out Sasuke's new doujutsu. Plus, Sasuke was exhausted, and his eyes were starting to burn.

Naruto shook his head and sat down beside his compatriot. "Well, maybe we should end for the day. Sakura said to not overdo it..." He sighed before continuing, "I just don't understand it. We've tried activating all Six Paths—"

"And nothing works," Sasuke finished for him.

Naruto blinked in confusion and stared at Sasuke's eyes. "It still looks like the rinnegan to me. Only instead of six rings, you've only got two..."

Sasuke held his head in his hands and massaged his closed eyes. "Maybe it's some weird hybrid...?"

"Have you tried using it like a regular sharingan, just to see what happens?"

Sasuke shook his head. "No. I mean—I don't know, I've been funneling chakra into it—but—" He exhaled sharply. "Well, I guess it's worth a try."

Thus far, Sasuke had only been pushing chakra in a non-directed way into his eyes. It hadn't occurred to him to try using it like a normal sharingan because honestly, he hadn't thought that it would work. _But when you hit the bottom, the only place left to go is up, right?_ Sasuke smiled wryly as he caught himself replaying one of Naruto's many truisms in his head. Making a few familiar hand-signs, he pretended as if he had ordinary Uchiha eyes in his head—

Suddenly, the world lurched, and just as abruptly, it stopped. Sasuke opened a travel mirror from his pocket and blanched. There were three black commas swirling inside of two concentric, purple circles.

"Well, that's new!" Naruto chimed in excitement.

Trying to hide his shaking hands, Sasuke put the mirror in his pocket and faced his teammate. "Hn. Let's see how it works. Hit me."

Naruto grinned toothily and began attacking. Sasuke could tell Naruto was holding back, but it was just as well, since Sasuke was pretty tired himself. Despite his low chakra reserves, Sasuke was amazed; everything seemed to move in slow motion, and Sasuke dodged Naruto's attacks with ease.

"Try using the repulse-pull attack from one of the Six Paths. Let's see if it will work now!"

Sasuke made the hand-signs that Naruto _swore_ were the correct ones, then held out his hand. A moment later, Naruto zoomed towards him, as if pulled by a magnet.

"Oh man, this is so cool!" the blond beamed. "Okay, now try the summoning jutsu!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes; it seemed like this was a freak show and he was the freak. But instead of voicing his complaint, Sasuke merely formed the hand-signs and slammed his bloody hand on the ground. Nothing happened.

"That path is ruled out, then," Naruto said. "I'm going to come at you with a rasengan—this time, you try to absorb it!"

Sasuke bared his teeth; it was no picnic to be hit with a rasengan. Sasuke nodded and Naruto came at him slowly. Sasuke held out his hand to the whirling ball of chakra—

And pulled back as the tips of his fingers were singed.

"Okay, guess you don't have that path either."

"Idiot, you just burned my fingers!"

"Come on, you're a shinobi. Suck it up. Let's try a few more paths and then we'll get Hinata-chan to patch you up!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I wonder how you could activate a bunch of projectiles from your body...hmmm. I don't think the Asura Path made any hand-signs; he was just kind of a weird robot thingie. Well, that can't be right. When I fought Pein as a zombie, he was able to just activate that path. Hmmmm." Naruto scrunched up his face, lost in though, before becoming animated once more. "I think I remember! Yes, these are definitely the hand-signs—"

"Naruto, this does not inspire confidence—"

"Oi, come on asshole, what's the worst that can happen?"

Now, _that_ was a loaded question. Sasuke clenched his teeth as he thought of all the possible, horrific things that _could_ happen. _I could hurt Naruto—or one of the kids, if they happen to pass by—or—_

But Sasuke had no more time to think, as Naruto showed him the proper hand-signs to form, but nothing happened when Sasuke tried to activate the jutsu.

They didn't bother trying to activate the Human Path—the one that sucked souls straight out of their bodies. Sasuke would have refused to use that jutsu, even had he been capable of it. Instead they decided to figure out the remaining jutsu by process of elimination. Naruto said that since Sasuke had two rings in his eyes, that must correlate to two Paths. Sasuke wasn't really sure, but he figured that Naruto was as close as they were going to get to a rinnegan expert. Plus, Sasuke really didn't want to try ripping out anyone's soul today...

Naruto ventured, "Let's see if you can do the Naraka Path!"

Sasuke winced, not sure how Naruto could be so cavalier about the whole situation. After all, the Naraka Path was the ability to summon a freaky demon-esque head from the ground that could restore and reincarnate people (or torture them to tell the truth, but Sasuke didn't want to think about that part at the moment). But Naruto insisted on trying the summoning, and so Sasuke made a few hand-signs and closed his eyes—

And suddenly, said freaky deamon-esque head rose up from the ground in all of its glory. There was a moment of silence while the companions regarded the smiling fixture, Sasuke with unease, and Naruto with awe.

"Oi, teme, stick your hand in!"

"Do what now?"

"Stick your hand in. He should be able to rejuvenate it."

Sasuke wiggled his burnt fingers and winced from pain; the giant head opened its gaping mouth, as if it was issuing an invitation. _Well, either my hand is going to feel better, or I'm going to be out a limb,_ Sasuke thought with a twinge of anxiety. He closed his eyes and stuck his arm inside. Automatically, the freaky mouth closed and began to make chewing noises. Sasuke flinched, but he didn't feel any pain. And when the head opened its mouth again—

"You're all better!" Naruto called gleefully, bouncing up and down on his heals. Sasuke sighed and dispelled the jutsu, and the head sank back down into the earth. He regarded his fingers which were as good as new.

"I have no idea why you're so pleased, Naruto. Not only do I have a sharingan, but I can summon two of the Six Paths of Pein." Sasuke balled his newly mended hand into a fist.

Naruto stopped his bouncing and eyed Sasuke askance. "What? Aren't those all good things?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm sorry—I'm just low on chakra..." In reality, that wasn't it at all. Sasuke was shaking, but it wasn't from exhaustion. _This power—why on earth would anyone trust me with this power?_

"You must really be exhausted, you're even shaking," Naruto ventured in a soft voice. "Sasuke...?"**  
><strong>"What?" Sasuke snapped. He was sitting on the ground, cradling his head in his hands; he wasn't sure when he came to rest in this position.

"Listen," Naruto said slowly, coming to crouch by Sasuke, "I'm just happy because you get, like, a second chance. To use this power for good, you know?"

"Using power for good is not exactly my forte," Sasuke snapped.

"Asshole! Come on, I'm being serious."

"So am I."

Naruto shook his head and put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "You know, this comes right on time. If Madara is back, then this is just the jutsu to help us defeat him." Naruto smiled. "Just think, it was my son's greatest gift, giving us the means to protect Konoha in its hour of need..."

Sasuke inhaled slowly. Maybe the idiot was right; maybe Sasuke could finally pay the world back for all the pain and suffering he had caused. And maybe with this newfound power, Ryuu's death could have some meaning. If he could protect Ryuu's beloved family and friends with his eyes, well then, that couldn't be bad—could it?

Sasuke closed his eyes, but all he could see in the darkness was Itachi's as he lay dying, a cold smile on his still face. At that, Sasuke's resolve crumpled.

Sasuke had to remember that he could not trust himself. His heart was full of dark brine, ringed with a twisted sense of truth that ran around the perimeter like barbed wire. Who was he, truly, but a misguided madman—his illness and insanity tamped down only by forces outside of himself. If left to his own devices, who could say what Sasuke would choose?

What if there came a time when Naruto and Sakura would not be able to decide matters for Sasuke anymore—if he was left alone to marinate in the black salt sea that swelled in the hidden folds of his heart? He wished then that Naruto would place him in the deepest, darkest dungeon in Konoha.

"Teme?" Naruto ventured, breaking Sasuke out of his thoughts.

"Yeah…"

"It's going to be okay." His blue eyes looked deeply into his. "I trust you—you should trust yourself, too."

Sasuke smiled; Naruto thought that he had gotten through to his friend, when in reality Sasuke's smile was born of bitterness. _Everyone trusts me All the more reason for me to be on guard against myself. I can never betray this trust. Never._ Sasuke felt a weight settle on his shoulders, and he steeled his stomach to remain calm. He could do this. He _had_ to.

* * *

><p><em>Hope you enjoyed! Please let me know via your kind review;)<br>_


	26. Chapter 26: History

_Hey friends, welcome back! Special thanks to **Uchiha.s** for her most excellent beta'ing. Thanks also to all your wonderful reviews, PM's, etc:)_

_Without further ado...enjoy!  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter 26: <strong>History<strong>

"_Dark is the dawn in winter,_

_The sun obscured by snow;_

_Long is the night in December,_

_When the stars coldly glow."_

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse XIII_

Akemi settled back in her chair, her gray eyes soft, and sad. "If I am going to start at the beginning, Yuki, I am going to start at the _very_ beginning—to the times before Konoha's founding."

Akemi eyed her stunned granddaughter for a moment before continuing. "At that time, the Uchiha were simply a mercenary tribe, who were hired to attack a village underneath the shadow of the Akash mountain range. The Uchiha warriors, led by Uchiha Madara and his son, Uchiha Ayumu, led the fray."

Yuki eyed Akemi inquisitively, for she had never heard of anyone named Uchiha Ayumu, but she did not interrupt. Akemi pressed on, "It was a harsh battle, for the warriors of the valley were strong, and numerous; though the Uchiha were victorious in the end, many of their warriors had fallen. Uchiha Ayuma also fell in this battle, his sharingan utterly spent. But before his body could be recovered by his clansmen, another battalion of warriors came in, and drove the Uchiha out.

"But Ayumu was not dead. When his eyes opened, his wounds were being tended by a woman he did not know—a woman from the village that the Uchiha had just razed." Akemi paused in her tale to withdraw a scroll from her apron pocket. She read aloud:

"_I was left for dead on the battlefield,_

_During the first, so called, great war;_

_My lifeblood pooling in the earth,_

_My eyes broken and dark._

_She came striding through the carnage,_

_Like an angel draped in black;_

_When she saw my labored breathing,_

_She carried me on her back_

_Saying 'All my kin lay fallen, _

_My village is ash, smoldering in rain;_

_But your life I can save with my hands,_

_And the herb called Angel of the Mountain.'_

_I awoke the next morning,_

_Her brother's eyes where once were mine;_

_And gasping with my newfound sight,_

_Realized she hailed from the enemy's side."_

"What are you reading, baachan?" Yuki asked, confused. "And why would anyone rescue an enemy?"

Akemi smiled and rolled up the scroll. "I'm simply reading from Ayumu's book—these are his words, about what happened after the battle. According to him, a woman saved him because she was sick of death; because she didn't want anyone else to die."

"But that's crazy!" Yuki protested.

Akemi shook her head from side-to-side. "It might sound crazy, but the woman, Aiko, had a special jutsu that could see through time and space. She _saw_ that Ayumu's family had also been killed in the war—that he was like her.

"When Ayumu recovered, she traveled with him to his village, and as she had said, everyone had been killed—his wife, his children, and many of his closest friends. And so Ayumu and Aiko went up into the Akash mountain ranges to escape the horrors wrought by the First Ninja War—they were the first to defect from the Uchiha clan."

Yuki massaged her temples, lost in thought. Finally, she ventured, "You said that they were the first to defect from the Uchiha clan—does that mean there were others who joined them?"

Akemi chuckled at that. "Indeed. Sharp as a tack, as always, my Yuki-san. About five years after the war, there was a faction of Uchiha that did not want to follow Uchiha Madara, for his policies had become violent, and evil. There was a great battle among the Uchiha and many died; the surviving members of the dissenting branch family escaped into the Akash mountain range, and there they met with Ayumu and Aiko.

"Aiko at the time was heavy with child, and when she heard Uchiha Madara's name, she saw a vision. What she saw was so horrifying, however, that she started to undergo the pangs of childbirth. It was a long, hard labor, and though the child was born healthy, Aiko bled to death. She called Ayumu over and transferred her jutsu—the power to _see_ through things and beyond things—to him before she died. With her dying breath, she named her youngest son Aiseki; and Aiseki was my own grandfather," said Akemi with a sigh, her voice hoarse.

Yuki unhooked her canteen from her belt and handed it to Akemi. As Akemi drank deeply, Yuki asked, "So—you mean to tell me that other Uchiha still exist?"

The old woman nodded and replied, "The story does not end, yet, Yuki-chan—listen carefully. The branch family, along with Ayumu and his children, decided to become a nomadic mountain tribe in order to evade discovery. And ever since, the People of the Hill have wandered the Akash mountain range, living peaceful lives far outside the reach of politics and war.

"Now Ayumu, who was the founder of the Hill Folk, was an expert sharingan wielder. He found that his doujutsu, combined with his wife's powers of perception, allowed him to deepen his use of the sharingan. One of the techniques he perfected was traveling interdimensionally, something that traditionally only a few wielders of the mangekyo sharingan could achieve. And with this new found power, he trained the rest of his tribe in this kind of jutsu, so that they could evade all of their pursuers."

"Akemi-baachan? Why—how did you get _here_? If you are—you know, one of _them,_" Yuki asked with trepidation, "then why are you here, in Konoha?"

Akemi nodded solemnly before continuing, "I was sent to Konoha to live as a spy, for we had seen strange portents regarding the main house. I posed as a craftsperson and moved into a cheap apartment in the Uchiha district, and I learned that the Uchiha were planning a coup d'etat. But before I could relay the information to my elders, the massacre happened. I remember it so clearly, when Itachi slithered through my window..." Akemi broke off and wiped at her eyes.

Akemi took a deep breath before continuing. "Thankfully, Madara was not with him, otherwise I wouldn't be here today. But Itachi wasn't familiar with branch family jutsu, and I was able to transport myself to another dimension while casting a genjutsu to cover my tracks. While traveling between the worlds, I received orders from my father to continue on in Konoha as a spy.

"Afterwards, I returned to Konoha and married a very sweet and dear man. I told him that I had been out of town while the massacre had taken place, and he took pity on me. I moved my shop to the main street on Konoha and continued to sell my wares, all the while relaying messages back to my people—"

"You—you're a traitor?" Yuki stood and pointed to Akemi with a shaking hand.

"Yuki-san, sit," Akemi quietly insisted. As though transfixed, Yuki stilled and sat back down. "My people are not a warring tribe; we were gathering information for our own safety, nothing more. We had reason to believe that we, too, would have been targeted if we had been discovered. As you know, the Uchiha massacre was organized by Konoha itself."

Yuki nodded; she had learned that this was so in the academy. "Well," Akemi continued, "during my work observing Konoha, I saw that the danger was not over for the Uchiha. Have you ever thought of what happened to the Uchiha who were out on missions, or who were simply out of town, at the time of the massacre?"

Yuki shook her head.

"No one talks about this," Akemi muttered, "but these individuals were brutally hunted down and slaughtered by Konoha's Root. I was able to warn a few of these souls and guide them to our safe-haven in Akash. Although there were many I could not save..."

Here, Akemi paused and wrung her hands in her lap. Yuki stared at her tiny grandmother, and wondered how it was that the little old lady had been so bad-ass. But Yuki had little time to wonder, for Akemi recovered herself and continued her tale.

"Thus, the third wave of Uchiha refuges made their way to the mountains," Akemi said softly, her gray eyes still cloudy with sorrow. "Unfortunately, Madara learned of our existence at this time, though he was so preoccupied with the Akatsuki, and accumulating the tailed beasts, that the peoples of Akash were left unharmed—until now." Akemi paused and leaned heavily against the back of her chair, as if weary, while Yuki bit her lower lip in anxiety. Whatever was going to come next, it was not going to be good.

"After the Fourth Ninja War," Akemi pressed on, "Madara didn't die—but he wasn't quite alive, either. He roamed the earth as a hungry ghost, feeding like a spider off of the souls of his victims. He started off by sucking the life out of plants and animals, but after about a decade, he had enough strength to go after humans."

"Just like a vampire," Yuki said with a shudder. It had been Uzumaki Ryuu who had believed in all sorts of supernatural beasts, like werewolves and ghosts; Yuki had always ridiculed him for it. But now she saw there was some truth to these dark mythological creatures: if anyone was a vampire, it was Madara.

Akemi nodded thoughtfully at Yuki's comparison. "Yes. Madara would suck his victims' chakra right out of their bodies—disgusting man," she spat with a shake of her head. "And that is when Madara came to Akash and started killing off my kinsman. My granddaughter Aya managed to fend him off in the end, but not before he had already taken a fair number of my people.

"Now dearie, here is the pivotal thing you must know: when Madara tapped out their vital essence, his victims did not die. Instead, they became soulless, animated corpses completely under Madara's control. Not only is Madara rejuvenating himself, but he is amassing an inhuman army in a manner similar—but more terrifying—than edo tensei."

"Edo tensei—like in the last ninja war? When Kabuto revived the bodies of dead shinobi?" Yuki replied in horror, recalling the examples from her textbooks.

Akemi nodded. "Yes. It's a similar jutsu, but even more deadly. When Madara sucks the life essence out of his victims, a small part of Madara's energy goes into the dead body. This process doesn't require a sacrifice, and it's all too easy for him to perform. Worst of all, our enemy has figured out how to infuse his own essence into a poison-like substance that sucks out his victims chakra and eventually makes them part of his soulless army. He doesn't need to personally attack his victims anymore, but instead has his minions do it for him. Do you remember your mission?"

Yuki paled and replied, "You mean—that poison on Yajirushi's arrows turns people into _zombies?_ And Yajirushi—was he a zombie himself? What the fuck!"

"I don't know how he does it," Akemi replied evenly as she ignored Yuki's expletive, "but the poison has a parasitical quality—"

"That's it!" Yuki broke in, rising from her seat. "The poison feeds not only on the physical body, but on the chakra system. That was the darkness I saw around sensei's body when I healed him—it was Madara's chakra transferring places with sensei's!"

"That seems plausible, indeed. As I said, I'm not sure exactly how the jutsu works; my granddaughter, Aya, is more of an expert. But in any event, with each victim, Madara gets stronger in body, while simultaneously he amasses a huge army. But that's not the worst of our worries."

Yuki's eyes grew wide—what could _possibly_ be worse than the return of Madara and the rising of another zombie army? She sank down into her seat and gripped the bench underneath her with white fingers, looking at her grandmother expectantly.

Akemi closed her eyes and spoke. "Yuki-san. Madara is at the point where he is looking for a host body. You see, he lost his physical form in the last war when he was defeated by your father. But now, he's amassed enough chakra that he can _steal_ a physical form." Akemi opened her eyes and looked straight at Yuki. "And he's coming to take your body."

Yuki blanched and almost fell out of her seat. "W-what?"

"Madara is coming to steal your very body. And he's going to be here within three days."

* * *

><p>"Tsunade-sama!"<p>

Tsunade looked up from her stack of papers to regard the ANBU black ops with a cicada mask. "Shino-san. Any news?" she barked.

Shino bowed, his features impassive even in the face of Tsunade's impatience. "No, my lady," he buzzed. "We scoured the Akash range, but were unable to find the Hill People of which Hokage-sama spoke."

Tsunade grunted and resisted the urge to swear or to break Naruto's office furniture. "I feared as much," Tsunade muttered as she reached for a flask of sake and took a long, long drink.

"My apologies, Tsunade-sama," Shino replied, his voice inflectionless.

"Please," Tsunade grumbled, slamming down her flask of sake on the desk and reclining back in her seat. "It wasn't your fault. I shouldn't have let Naruto-kun go off on his own..." Tsunade trailed off and exhaled hotly. It was no surprise that these so called "Hill People" hadn't been located; after all, they had had fair warning of Konoha's interest in tracking them, courtesy of Sasuke's medical emergency.

"Shino-san," Tsunade barked, "bring me Naruto. I need to speak with him. And while you're at it, bring Sasuke here, too."

"Yes ma'am, Tsunade-sama," Shino replied quietly. He bowed once more before he disappeared in a cloud of hissing insects.

_What the fuck do I do now?_ Tsunade thought wearily as she clutched her it all, she was supposed to be retired! And Naruto still had to go over the new medical data that Karin had gathered on Gomakashi's animated corpse, as well as the new intel from the border. Although, much to her chagrin, nothing conclusive had been gleaned from the information as of yet...

Just as Tsunade was lost in her hopeless musings, Naruto and Sasuke entered the office. Tsunade was about to speak, but when she saw Sasuke, her mouth parted open and a strangled croak came out.

"Oi, baachan, sorry I didn't tell you about this—" Naruto gestured towards Sasuke, but he was interrupted by Tsunade, who had recovered herself.

"Uchiha—are you wearing purple contacts? _Tell me_ you're just wearing purple contacts!" Tsunade shouted, standing up abruptly and glowering at Sasuke.

"Baachan, he has some weird, awesome mix between a sharingan and a rinnegan!" Naruto yelled. Next to him, Sasuke flinched.

Tsunade's hand clenched her sake flask as Naruto detailed Sasuke's newly found ocular powers. Her gaze traveled between Naruto and Sasuke, the former looking like the cat who had swallowed the canary, the latter looking more like the canary.

Finally, Tsunade sank back down in her chair and cleared her throat. "Well, that's _interesting,_ to say the least," Tsunade grumbled. She rubbed her aching forehead and muttered, "If Naruto believes in this new jutsu, then I believe in it, too. But for now, Uchiha-san, perhaps you should wear some sunglasses?"

Tsunade shook her head from side to side. It would be disastrous if the village learned about Sasuke's new jutsu at this juncture—there were many who didn't trust the Uchiha in the first place, and with everything going on right now, Tsunade didn't want to give anyone fuel for the fire.

She cleared her throat as Sasuke took out a pair of shades from his pocket. "Naruto-kun? Have you told Hiashi-sama...?"

"It is a recent development, Tsunade-sama," Sasuke replied instead. "We were not aware of my capabilities until this afternoon,"

"You do realize that the only reason Hiashi didn't protest the eye transplant was because, ostensibly, Ryuu didn't have the byakugan?" Tsunade snapped. She saw Naruto's face fall and instantly regretted her cold tone.

"I'll tell him tonight, baachan," Naruto murmured. "What is done is done. But I agree, otherwise we should keep our new secret weapon under wraps."

Sasuke winced at Naruto's phrasing; Naruto caught Sasuke's expression and shrugged. "Sorry Sasuke, but I have a feeling you are going to come in handy."

Tsunade clucked her tongue; there was no time, _no time_ for any of this! She gestured for the pair to come closer. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke, I have some new information I want you to look over."

As the two settled down on either side of the Godaime, Tsunade suppressed a sigh. Things were already complicated enough; Sasuke's new ocular development, she feared, was only going to complicate things even more. _Hopefully Hiashi won't freak out about the byakugan (or whatever it is!) being given to a non-clan member—and to an Uchiha at __that._

She leaned her aching head into her hand. _Well, guess I'll just have to bet on Naruto, as always. He hasn't let me down yet._ She spared a smile for the blond man and began going over the intel.

* * *

><p>Yuki's normally stoic face was lined with worry. "So. It really was true...the dream..." Yuki held her head in her hands, feeling dizzy. "And I need to leave—?"<p>

Akemi nodded. "We should leave as soon as possible."

"Can't I think about it?" Yuki squeaked. She didn't know _what_ to think. She needed time to mull things over, to be objective; wasn't that what her father was always telling her, to think important things over with a clear head? That was the Uchiha way, after all.

Akemi murmured, "Take a day to digest what I've said, but you need to come back tomorrow, at midnight. That's when we'll make our way to Akash." At her words, a soft mewing sound came from the archway leading to the house. "Ah, Tobias. Come forward, dear, and introduce yourself!"

From the shadows of the gray stone archway, an equally gray cat padded forward. "Yuki-san," Akemi murmured, "this is Tobias-san. He's been a long time friend of mine."

Tobias bowed his head to Yuki and said, "Akemi-san, you'll grow weary if you hold up the barrier any longer; it's not safe to use it for extended periods of time. If they catch you—"

Akemi shook her head. "I'm a hundred and four years old. What do I have to fear?" Regardless, she shooed the nin cat back to the shadows, and then dissolved the silverly substance that had enclosed the garden space. "Well dear, I do hope you'll come back tomorrow!" Akemi offered to Yuki with false brightness.

Yuki nodded but otherwise remained silent as she made her way to the garden gate. Akemi followed her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Don't forget now, dearest."

"Yes, Akemi-baachan," Yuki whispered. In a daze, she opened the gate and let herself out. On the street, thick with swarms of passersby, everything looked different, although nothing had changed but Yuki herself.

Why had she never learned about the branch family in the academy? At this thought, Yuki smiled sardonically. _I'm such an idiot. If these are ninja adept at concealing themselves, __then of course no one in Konoha would really know about them. _Because besides that weird interdimensional jutsu that Yuki didn't fully understand, the Uchiha were also skilled in genjutsu; she was sure that this was part of the branch family's ability to conceal themselves. _I wonder if that silver barrier baachan used was some kind of genjutsu?_ Yuki shook her head; how could she think about jutsu at a time like this?

After all, she had just found out that her clan was still _alive, _yet hunted by the spectral figure of Madara. And worst of all, Madara was coming to steal her body—she still didn't believe it. It seemed absurd, too terrifying and bizarre to be real. Why her? She was only ten, for fuck's sake!

But then, Yuki thought back to her battle with Yajirushi. She had assumed that Yajirushi had come to steal her eyes, but now, she wasn't so sure. If Yajirushi had in fact been an agent of Madara, was robbing her of her sharingan truly his main objective?

Yuki continued to ponder as she made her way home, her brows furrowed in furious thought, and it was in this reeling state of consciousness that Tadashi found her on the main street.

"Yuki."

Yuki blinked and looked up at the source of the gruff voice, and was surprised to see Tadashi; she was perturbed by the fact that he had omitted the honorific after her name.

"Tadashi...san," she replied cautiously.

"Yuki. Fight me. Right now," the younger ninja called, his vehemence crackling in the air between them.

Yuki blinked in confusion. "You want to fight me right here?"

Tadashi shook his head. "Follow me—jerk."

Yuki shook her head, then followed the retreating form of Tadashi heading towards the training grounds. She grinned. Perhaps beating Tadashi into a bloody pulp was just the therapy she needed after a day like today...

* * *

><p>The fading twilight colored their skin and clothing, shades of gray covered in a thin wash of cadmium. Yuki could feel the build up of stress in her body buzzing in her extremities, as if aching for release.<p>

Tadashi faced her, his expressionless face lit on one side with eerie shades of carmine, the other shadowed in ultramarine. His white, pupiless eyes held hatred and fury as he stood, silently appraising his opponent for a moment, before he spoke.

"What you did to me is absolutely unforgivable. That puerile prank—whereupon a bird defecated on my head—was unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable," Tadashi spat. He crouched low in a fighting stance. "Let's settle this—right here, right now."

Yuki tilted her chin up and smiled, hints of feral violence glinting off of her white teeth. "What I did to you, you deserved for insulting myself and Ryuu-kun. And I'll make you pay for it again, right now," she retorted hotly as she cracked her knuckles. "Let's go all out, Tadashi."

They started off by throwing a few feints at each other—a round-house kick which Tadashi blocked, a few shuriken which Yuki dodged with ease—but Yuki soon grew tired of their dance. Not wanting to hold back any longer, she formed familiar hand-signs after she threw distracting kunai at Tadashi's head.

"Fire style: fire ball jutsu!" A plume of fire left her lips, casting the previously low-lit clearing into high relief; luminescent orange and red lit the forest with hellish light. Yuki stood back, hoping that she had scored a hit on her opponent, but much to her disappointment, Tadashi emerged from the smoke, completely unscathed.

"I'm afraid attacks like that won't work on me, Yuki-_chan_," Tadashi taunted. "I've been training quite extensively with eight-trigrams-palms-revolving-heaven, and I've even surpassed my father at the jutsu."

"Well, aren't you the prodigy," Yuki mocked as she bit her finger in order to call her summons. However, halfway between slamming her hand down to the ground and funneling chakra into her arm, she stopped. _I can't summon Tama—the Hokage would have my head!_ _Damn!_

Tadashi took the opening and came at her with his gentle fist style. She dodged the attacks, but Tadashi was fast, and soon a sheen of sweat wet her forehead. Yuki began thinking furiously of a plan. _Tadashi is a close range fighter—I need to get out of range and hit him with a long range attack._ As she dodged his next punch, she chucked a smoke bomb at his feet and leapt away.

Yuki found a hiding place in a nearby tree and breathed softly. If Tadashi could deflect even an elemental attack with his gentle fist style, then he really _was_ a damned prodigy. But then again, so was she; she was not going to lose to this twerp.

_I need to distract him with an attack while hitting him from a side he's not expecting. _But just as she formed her plan, a swarm of weapons flew by her hiding spot. Yuki ducked just in time as a well-placed shuriken cut the upper portion of her tree in half. _Sweet Kami—he could have decapitated me! _Yuki thought as she fell to the ground, momentarily stunned at her opponent's audacity.

Tadashi laughed, and called out to her, "Oh, and did I mention I have a whole _slew_ of long range attacks in these scrolls!" The boy patted a fat wad of scrolls on his back.

Yuki thought bitterly, _Those must have been a graduation present from his okaasan—what a little brat._ But Yuki herself wasn't the daughter of two geniuses for nothing. With a snarl, she gathered chakra into her fist and slammed it down onto the ground. A fissure in the earth instantly formed, heading straight for Tadashi. As the earth lurched and boy attempted to regain his footing, Yuki blended back into the shadows of the forest.

Just as she was weaving a rather complicated genjutsu— an illusion so powerful that even Tadashi's byakugan would have been fooled— Tadashi called, "That's it, Yuki! Run away, just like your traitor of a father, Uchiha Sasuke!"

Yuki paused mid hand-sign and gritted her teeth. _Don't answer him, _she thought._ He's just trying to get a rise out of you!_

But Tadashi continued, "That's right, _your_ father is nothing but a dirty traitor. He ran off and joined Orochimaru; then, the back-stabber killed his sensei, murdered his own brother, and _then_ joined forces with Madara and the Akatsuki."

Yuki closed her eyes briefly before weaving her hand-signs again. The particular illusion she wanted to cast was somewhat complicated, and she really had to concentrate to pull it off. But Yuki wasn't worried or upset; Tadashi had only told her what she already had gleaned from her father. _And in any event, otousan repented for everything by saving Hokage-sama's life, and defeating Madara, in the last war._

Unfortunately, Tadashi broke into her thoughts once more. "Of course, I bet you _didn't_ know that your precious otousan tried to kill your own _mother,_ and multiple times at that! Not to mention his attempts on our Hokage's life," he spat. "I broke into the Hyuga history vaults, and from my research, it seems like your father tried to murder Hokage-sama more times than I can count."

Yuki's hands froze, unable to make hand-signs anymore. "That's not true!" Yuki shouted. She marched out from her hiding spot and pointed to Tadashi accusingly. "That's not fucking true!"

"Whether you believe me or not, it's true," Tadashi countered with a shrug. "You should go to the restricted section of the library—it's all there." With that, Tadashi unraveled a long scroll, and a barrage of kunai flew directly towards Yuki. Yuki clenched her teeth and punched the earth with her fist, dislodging a chunk of ground and using it as a shield. After the last kunai sunk into the displaced earth, Yuki tossed it towards Tadashi who leapt over the mound and stood close to Yuki.

"Eight trigrams, sixty-four palms!" he called triumphantly. Yuki strained her sharingan to its limits, dodging the Hyuga's lightening-fast attacks. But her defense was not solid enough, and Tadashi hit a sensitive point on her shoulder—the same shoulder which she had injured in her mission against the arrow-wielding servant of Madara. She hissed and leapt back as the attack ended and funneled healing chakra into her aching shoulder; despite her efforts, the old wound remained opened, oozing blood.

Yuki was panting heavily, limp from pain and exhaustion. Her vision swam red, and all she could see were volleys of arrows and Ryuu's bleeding, punctured body lying prone on the earth. As her shoulder continued to weep blood, it seemed like Yuki's heart was also punctured, welling up with terrible waves of pain: guilt, sorrow, and loss made her lungs shudder with each breath and her shoulder ache twice as painfully. Yuki closed her eyes and grimaced, for her eyes, too, seemed to throb with unbearable, lashing pain.

Yuki could no longer stand the weight of it; she collapsed onto her knees.

"Of course," the young Hyuga prodigy drawled, impervious to Yuki's suffering, "your father also managed to kill scores of innocent people. But did you know that Sasuke also murdered Cho's grandfather in the last war?"

"W-what?" she hissed through clenched teeth. "You—you're lying. You're lying!"

"The Uchiha were originally massacred by Itachi, but it was Konoha who ordered their eradication. Do you know why, Yuki-chan?"

Yuki clenched her free hand tighter around her shoulder and glared up at Tadashi, though it made the pain in her eyes redouble. "Shut up!" she shrieked. "Shut up, you stupid brat! You have no idea—"

"Oh, but I do have an idea," he interjected, a smug smile on his face. "The Uchiha were killed because they were trying to overthrow the government. Originally, the Uchiha were formed as a genetic experiment, a derivation of the Hyuga. But they proved to be faulty experiments and needed to be purged. Itachi should have finished the job and killed your father too; after all, Sasuke ended up being a good-for-nothing war criminal—"

"I said, shut the fuck up! Don't talk shit about my father!" Yuki roared as she came to her feet, her chakra fluctuating wildly. Tadashi took this opening and, with a chakra enhanced fist, aimed straight for Yuki's heart—

But Yuki's sharingan was whirling frenetically, and when Tadashi met her eyes, he froze, then dropped down to the ground in an ungraceful heap before his deadly jutsu could meet her chest.

Yuki panted as she clutched her right eye. "Well. It's nice my sharingan can whip out a genjutsu under duress. You fucking piece of shit," Yuki snarled. "I hope whatever genjutsu my eyes just placed you under, it's fucking hell."

Yuki breathed heavily for a moment, her vision blurry in her right eye, the world lurching under her feet. But slowly, slowly, in the silent clearing that had grown monolithic and ultramarine with the growing shadows of night, she collected herself and made her way to the library.

* * *

><p><em>an thanks for reading:) Please review:)_


	27. Chapter 27: Gray

_a/n  
><em>

_Thanks so much to my wonderful reviewers, and special thanks to **Lovelight**, who left an anonymous review which was very, very sweet:)  
><em>

__I love you all- thanks for reading!__

* * *

><p>Chapter Twenty-Seven: <strong>Gray<strong>

"_The battlefield is scattered with bones,_

_The ground is cold and frozen;_

_The ghosts of soldiers wander and groan,_

_Lost, incorporeal, and forsaken."_

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse XIV_

"So you see," Tsunade muttered, her fingers clutching classified documents, "if Karin's hypothesis is correct, then…" Tsunade trailed off, realizing that Naruto was no longer listening to her, and had, at some point, wandered over to the window.

"Brat! I'm talking to you!" Tsunade wailed. It was getting dark, and damn it, she was tired, and _old_, and she just wanted to get through this crap so she could go to sleep.

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry Tsunade-baachan, but something feels…weird."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "Weird? Like what?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not sure." He unceremoniously plopped himself down on the floor and began meditating.

Tsunade was about to yell at the idiot, but Sasuke stilled her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Tsunade, trust your Hokage," he murmured.

"That's Tsunade-_sama_ to you, troll," she replied gruffly, but left Naruto to his meditations all the same. She knew the Uzumaki's sensory abilities were what kept Konoha safe, and if he thought something was out of sorts, then it was worth investigating.

In a moment, a tangible swirl of energy gathered around Naruto, and the rings under his eyes grew orange. Before long, his eyes snapped open. "Tadashi is in trouble," he shouted, rising from the floor in one fluid motion. "I'm going to go find him!" And with that, Naruto was gone in a tell-tale flash of light.

"Damn it! What does he _mean_ Tadashi is in trouble! How can he go haring off like that without explaining himself!" Tsunade grumbled. Sasuke spared her a glance, and Tsunade sighed. "Sorry," she muttered, "I'm just grumpy. I'm too old for this shit."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "It's all right, Tsunade-sama. Why don't you go home and rest. Naruto and I will go over these documents later; we've already covered the bulk of it."

Tsunade offered him a wry grin. "That is sweet of you, Uchiha, but I think I'll wait to see what Naruto drags back." She shook her head and stretched her arms behind her chair. "Just in case..."

As if prophetically spoken, Naruto returned in a yellow flash, a prone child in his arms. Tsunade rose and abruptly came to Naruto's side.

"Baachan—what's wrong with him?" Naruto called. "I thought it was a simple genjutsu, but when I tried to break it, it wouldn't work."

"Put him flat on the floor Naruto—let me have a look," Tsunade barked as she gathered chakra in her hands. As she worked, her eyebrows narrowed until they practically met in the center of her head. "Shit. Is this even possible...?" Tsunade breathed.

"I sensed that he had just been sparing with Yuki-chan," Naruto offered, anxiously peering over Tsunade's shoulder. "When I found him, there were scattered weapons and displaced earth everywhere—"

"The latter being a jutsu Yuki learned from Sakura," Tsunade replied darkly. "Sasuke—why the fuck does your daughter have the capability to cast tsukuyomi?"

"What? But that's… Oh shit," Sasuke cursed as he knelt down by the unconscious boy. With frantic movements, Sasuke removed his shades and made a few hand-signs—Tadashi woke up screaming. Tsunade gathered him up in her arms, and as the boy sobbed into her bosom, she eyed Sasuke askance.

"I'm assuming you were able to break it because you share blood with the caster," Tsunade muttered, "and because you have a quasi-sharingan now yourself."

Sasuke broke out into a cold sweat. "I—I'm incredibly stupid."

"Sasuke, what the fuck did you do?" Naruto wailed, his concerned glance traveling between Tadashi who was weeping in Tsunade's arms, and the tomoes whirling in Sasuke's lavender irises.

"I—I gave the mangekyo sharingan to a ten year old girl with anger management problems," Sasuke blurted out. "Oh gods," he moaned, holding his head in his hands. "This is all my fault!"

"Bastard, how the fuck did you _give_ your daughter the mangekyo? How is that possible?" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke, still kneeling, shook his head and muttered, "There's a jutsu—it's how I inherited the mangekyo in the first place, from Itachi. I gave it to my daughter."

"Are you deficient or something! How could you—" Naruto began, but Tsunade shot him a look.

"Listen, we can discuss this later," Tsunade burst in, taking control of the situation. "Right now, Naruto, get this child to his parents and explain what happened—minus the mangekyo part. Just say it was a nasty genjutsu. The last thing we need are Neji and Tenten to get hysterical over this. Sasuke—go find your daughter and talk some _sense_ into her!"

Sasuke rose on shaky legs. "Forgive me. I wasn't even certain that the jutsu worked. I didn't even tell her—this is my fault. I take full responsibility," he whispered. And with that, Sasuke jumped out of the open window and into the night.

Tsunade sighed and stroked Tadashi's back, sending green healing chakra into his body while she did so. "Naruto, I'm going to bed," Tsunade said wearily. "Tadashi-kun? Get ahold of yourself and go with your Hokage now."

Tadashi sniffled, extracted himself from Tsunade's motherly embrace, and bowed wobbly to his elders. Naruto caught the boy just before he fell mid-bow.

"What a mess," Naruto muttered. "Come on, Tadashi-kun, let's go home."

Tsunade snorted and looked out of the window through which Sasuke had just exited. What a mess, indeed.

* * *

><p>It was well past midnight when Yuki returned from the library. She had no idea why her right eye was on the fritz (she had been forced to read everything solely with her left eye) but that wasn't what was bothering her. She sighed.<p>

"Well, at least getting through the wards was a piece of cake. Even with just my left eye, it took me less than a minute to crack," she muttered aloud to no one in particular. "Those fucking seals had dad's handwork written all _over_ them. I can't believe..." she trailed off, tired and heartbroken. _I can't believe he didn't tell me..._

She had combed through the history scrolls in disbelief—everything Tadashi had said had been _true._ She had once thought that the Uchiha were honorable—now she knew the truth. _My father is a deranged homicidal maniac. How can I even be on the same team as Cho when my father murdered her grandfather? How can I even be trusted in this village?_

That's it, Yuki swore to herself. The Uchiha were freaks, murdering each other, plotting against Konoha. After all, the worst villain Konoha had ever faced was Madara, yet another Uchiha from a long line of psychopathic shinobi. It was all so clear now.

Yuki had found a scroll detailing the mangekyo sharingan, wherein the seeker had to _murder_ his closest friend in order to obtain ridiculous power. Sure, Yuki had learned in school what the mangekyo was and how Madara used it in the last war; but they sure as shit hadn't covered how the mangekyo had been _acquired._

Madara and his brother murdered their respective best friends, then Madara had taken his own brother's eyes right out of his head. _And my father—he killed Itachi and that's how __**he**__ got his mangekyo! He's—I'm—we're no better than Madara! _Yuki shook her head. She was heading home, packing her bag, and getting the fuck out of Konoha tonight**.** She only hoped Akemi-baachan wouldn't be sore when Yuki knocked on her door in the middle of the night.

Finally, Yuki approached her house, and with extreme stealth, she slipped through the open window and into her dark bedroom—

Which, as soon as she entered it, was not dark any longer; someone had switched on the light. She blinked in the harsh light, covering up her sensitive right eye with her palm, and looked up into her father's face.

_Oh, shit. _

* * *

><p>"Yuki," Sasuke intoned, "we found Tadashi collapsed, unconscious in the forest. Explain." Sasuke wanted to sound angry, but instead, his voice rasped with weariness.<p>

Yuki shook her head while still covering her right eye. Blinking her good eye a few times, she replied in a quiet yet menacing tone, "Tadashi challenged me to a spar. He said some pretty nasty things—about the Uchiha. And he was about to give me heart failure via his gentle fist style when my right eye put him under some genjutsu by itself..." Yuki speared her father with a cycloptic glance and all but hissed, "Afterwards I went to the library—I broke all your seals in the restrictive section."

"What!" Sasuke shouted, his mind reeling. _Oh gods, oh gods, what have I done?_ Sasuke had no idea that Yuki's mangekyo sharingan would awaken so quickly; but now that Yuki was so armed, breaking his seals in the library would have been a piece of cake. The room began to spin, and Sasuke had to sit on Yuki's bed before he collapsed. He closed his eyes against the vertigo, but it did not help.

Sasuke took a deep breath to steady himself, but when he opened his eyes, it was as if he was free falling; he could feel his stomach lift as if suspended by a momentary lapse in gravity.

"I can't believe you dad!" Yuki shouted. "I can't believe you never told me!"

"I—I'm sorry," Sasuke whispered, but before he could continue, Yuki broke in.

"What the hell is wrong with you, dad? Why—"

It was at that moment that Sakura opened the door, causing Yuki to break off abruptly. Bleary eyed, Sakura asked, "What's with all the ruckus? Geez, I have to get up for work in a few hours..." She looked between Sasuke's horror-stricken face and Yuki's belligerent one and immediately became concerned. "Sasuke?" Sakura asked.

Sasuke replied, slowly, "Yuki was sparring with Tadashi. Apparently it was less than friendly, and she ended up putting Tadashi in a comatose state with genjutsu."

"WHAT!" Sakura cried, now wide awake. "Yuki, explain yourself!"

But Sasuke held out his hands and shook his head. "Sakura. Please, don't be so harsh with Yuki-chan. This is partially—no, mostly my fault."

"Sasuke? What the hell did you do?"

Yuki silently glared at her father; she wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but she was certain that her father was going to try to explain the things she had read about in the library. Secretly, she wanted him to make it all better—to tell her it wasn't true…

Sasuke stood up from Yuki's bed haltingly, like an old man with aching bones. He thought about skirting around the truth, but decided against it. He had already caused enough damage by withholding information, and in any event, if Yuki didn't already know what he was about to reveal, she would soon figure it out on her own if she had, indeed, been digging through the restricted section.

"I sort of accidentally—ah—gave Yuki..." Here Sasuke paused and took a deep breath before blurting out, "The mangekyo sharingan."

"WHAT!" both Yuki and Sakura hollered in stereo.

In the next room over, Takeo began crying; Sakura formed a shadow clone and sent it to deal with the infant, while she gave Sasuke _that _look—the look that she reserved for when he _really_ messed up; a look so belligerent and terrifying, he could have identified it even without sight.

Sakura began, "How the fuck—"

But her voice was drowned out by Yuki, who was close to hyperventilating. "Oh my fuck. Oh my FUCK! My right eye! That's why my right eye..." Yuki looked frantically at her father with her one good eye as she pieced bits of information together. "I placed Tadashi under tsukuyomi? But—I didn't kill anyone—did I? Did I...? Oh fuck—"

Sasuke broke in hastily, "No, you didn't kill anyone. And Tadashi is fine; your tsukuyomi is still developing and it was easy to break. It's my fault, Yuki. I gave you Itachi's mangekyo while you were sleeping..."

Yuki looked up at him in horror. "You mean—you gave me Itachi's eyes?"

Sasuke almost smiled. "No. Not exactly..."

"But didn't you kill Itachi and take his eyes, isn't that how you got your mangekyo? So how could I..." Yuki gave Sasuke a terrified look, and he felt his heart contract.

Sasuke tried his best to put Yuki at ease and said, "No. The mangekyo I received from Itachi was a gift. Although I did kill Itachi, I didn't take his eyes until later. I received the mangekyo because Itachi put it in my head himself, before he died."

Sasuke sighed; there was no point in circumventing the truth any longer. The fact that he had murdered Itachi had been tactfully left out of the academy's history books, but Sasuke knew that Yuki was cognizant of that fact already, having learned about it at the Nekobaa's house.

"Sasuke. You gave. Our ten year old child. The fucking mangekyo sharingan?" Sakura snapped. "That was _beyond _irresponsible!"

Sasuke really should have planned this all out better. But after the meeting in the Hokage's office, and seeing what had happened to poor Tadashi, Sasuke had been at his wit's end. He had searched all over Konoha for Yuki, and when he hadn't found her, he resigned himself to waiting in her bedroom, hoping she would return so he could explain everything to her. But now Sakura was freaking out, Takeo was screaming in the other room, Saki was no doubt awake—

And Yuki was looking up at him with pure hatred. He was surprised her sharingan wasn't activated at the moment, but he was sure that even without the doujutsu, she could have bored a hole through his head with her malice alone.

Sasuke looked back to Sakura and whispered, "Yes, yes I did. I really fucked up." _ Again..._ Sasuke thought wearily. At that moment, he wished that he could crawl into a deep, dark hole, never to emerge again.

Sakura stood in the doorway, mutely gaping at Sasuke's stupidity, while Yuki spoke for her: "Yes, you really _did_ fuck up, otousan. And how does this fuck up rank with the _rest_ of your fuck ups? Like the time you almost stabbed mom in the back with chidori? Or how about the millions of times you almost killed Hokage-sama? Or let's not forget—when you killed Cho's grandfather. You make me sick. You don't deserve Ryuu's eyes in your fucking head. You don't deserve _anything!_"

"Yuki!" Sakura cried, her anger at Sasuke rapidly becoming replaced with fear.

"Tell me it's not true, otousan. Tell me it's not. Because I just read your report in the library, the one Shikamaru took down after you were put into _prison_ when you finally returned to Konoha."

"Yuki...I..." Sasuke choked on the end of his sentence. What could he say? It was all true.

"From now on, my name is Haruno Yuki, and I don't have a father. I. Hate. You." And with that, Yuki leapt out of the open window and into the night.

"Yuki! Get back here!" Sakura shouted, rushing over to the window.

Sasuke shook his head. "Don't, Sakura. Just—let her be."

"Sasuke...?" Sakura looked at Sasuke and felt her anger dissipate completely; he seemed so utterly dejected that it made Sakura sigh. She tried to put her hands on his shoulders, but he shook her off.

"Sakura. I..." _I'm so sorry. I'm such a fuck up. You've always deserved better than me..._

Sakura bit her lower lip. "I know—I'm sure you were just trying to—"

Sasuke turned away from her abruptly. "I need to be alone."

Sakura nodded. "I...understand. Come back soon," she replied in a hoarse whisper.

"Hn."

He brushed her face with the palm of his hand before leaving through the open window.

And Sakura was left alone to regard the night filtering in through the window, the white curtains fluttering gently in the breeze.

* * *

><p>Yuki wound her way through the business district, climbed in through Akemi's open window, and found herself in the living room, face to face with an oversized feline.<p>

"Tobais?"

"Child. It's approximately two in the morning," the nin cat stated gravely.

Yuki bit her lower lip. "It's an emergency. We need to leave. _Now._"

Yuki wasn't sure if cats could sigh, but if they could, she swore that was what Tobias just did.

"I will wake Akemi," the cat murmured before padding off to the bedroom.

As Tobias left, Yuki looked around the shadowed living room. She regarded the dark forms of the sofa; the picture frames glinting with the moonlight which obscured the faces in the photographs. She had had so many happy memories in this living room—and so many memories in this village. Was she really leaving? And for how long?

Yuki sighed, and remembered the promise she had made to Ryuu-kun—to watch over his family for him after he died. Yuki began to pace, until finally she made her way back to the open windows to gaze longingly at the stars. _I promise, Ryuu-kun, I'll watch over everyone for you. I won't let you down! I just have to leave. For a little while?_ As her dark eyes searched the heavens, a shooting star streaked the sky with silver. Yuki smiled, thinking perhaps Ryuu had heard her inner musings.

Yuki heard soft footsteps behind her and turned around, blinking rapidly as Akemi turned on a light.

"Yuki-san, are you sure you want to leave right now?" Akemi asked, her eyes still cloudy with sleep.

Yuki nodded vehemently. "I'll explain on the way. But we need to leave—now." _Before I do any other acts of violence with these fucking eyes._ Yuki mentally cursed her father for 'gifting' her with the mangekyo sharingan, without even asking her. She closed her eyes, balling her hands into fists, before she was able to calm her rage.

Akemi, noting Yuki's inner turmoil, nodded. "You're making the right decision, child. Before we leave, we need to take care of that hiraishin seal, yes?"

"But how...?"

Akemi chuckled. "Just leave that to me." Akemi pulled a velvet bag out of her pocket and withdrew a silver necklace studded with lapis and obsidian, the stones forming stylized eyes on a dozen flat beads of silver. Wordlessly, Akemi beckoned Yuki over, then clasped the necklace on her neck. It felt heavy and cold against her skin. Akemi spread her palms wide, and blue chakra seeped from her hands onto the necklace—Yuki gasped as the metal sunk down into her flesh. It made sizzling sounds, but Yuki did not feel any pain.

"What in the world...?" Yuki breathed, her panicked eyes searching Akemi's.

Akemi smiled and placed a reassuring hand on Yuki's back. "Don't worry my dear; this is part of a jutsu we Hill People developed to avoid detection. I happen to be a master craftswoman of stealth devices, and I've made this necklace to prevent your hiraishin tattoo from activating—among other things..."

"Okay, baachan," Yuki replied weakly. There were so many things she wanted to ask her grandmother, but right now, she just wanted to concentrate on leaving the village.

Akemi patted her granddaughter on the back before putting similar jewelry on the nin cat and on herself; Yuki watched in fascination as Akemi fused the metal necklaces to flesh and fur.

"But baachan," Yuki asked as Akemi worked, "you don't have hiraishin tattoos—why do you need those things?"

Akemi chuckled as she applied blue chakra to Tobias's neck. "The devices have other jutsu worked into them: not only do they repel enemy seals, but they also enhance our own concealing genjutsu."

Akemi got a misty look in her eye as she continued, "One of the reasons I came to Konoha in the first place was to gather enough precious metals to make my devices. It's hard to do any metal smithing while living nomadically in the mountains—that's why moving to Konoha was perfect for me."

Yuki blinked several times in succession; she was truly amazed that her tiny grandmother could have created such amazing ninja tools. Akemi, finally done her fusing jutsu, hefted a large bag on her back and nodded to Tobias, who swelled to the size of a miniature pony.

"Sorry Yuki-chan, but we can't risk summoning Tama right now; I'm afraid the jutsu would alert the Hokage to our presence," she murmured as she sat on Tobias' back. "Even if I've scrambled the signal on your hiraishin tattoo, the Hokage would feel the fluctuation in chakra from calling a summons."

"That's all right, baachan. I'll walk," Yuki answered with a shrug. "But would you like me to carry that bag for you?"

Akemi shook her head. "This is all of my craftwork; I want to deliver them myself to Aya. They're protection amulets, just like the ones we're wearing, but they're even better than the last batch I sent her. You can carry the bag of provisions instead, Yuki." Akemi motioned with her head to a small bag of foodstuffs, which Yuki shouldered.

The old woman sighed. "We should get going now. It's only a few hours until dawn..."

Yuki broke into a cold sweat at her words. To say she was leaving the village was one thing; to actually _leave_ was another. However, Yuki knew, in her heart, that she was doing the right thing. If Madara was coming for her; if her father could not be trusted; then it was the perfect time to leave Konoha.

Yuki noticed her necklace glowing with an eerie blue light as the Akemi wove a few hand-signs. The old woman opened the front door, and then they were moving silently like shadows through the empty streets. Akemi clung to Tobias' back, a sad smile on her wrinkled face. Yuki sighed and tried concentrate, but she couldn't help but see images in her mind's eye as she passed her familiar haunts.

They passed by the ice cream shop, and Yuki could see the smiling faces of her sister and mother, vying with each other to get the most chocolate sprinkles in their shared ice cream sundae; the shuttered ramen store brought tears to her eyes, and she _swore_ that she could see Ryuu and his father, scarfing down bowl after bowl of ramen to see who could eat more.

_There's so many memories in this village,_ Yuki thought with a pang. At last, they passed the business district and veered passed the training grounds; Yuki spared a look for her favorite training ground, where she often trained with her otousan on lazy summer afternoons—

_No,_ Yuki thought, biting her lip. She pushed her memories aside—her father was dead to her. He was a lier and a murderer; the events of the past evening just confirmed that her father was not a man to be trusted. She would not allow herself even the memory of happiness with Sasuke.

Yuki looked ahead, and was glad to see that they were near the gates; she looked forward to leaving all these confusing and saddening memories far, far behind her. However, as they drew closer, a lone figure rose from the stone bench and stood beneath the arch of the gate.

Yuki hissed with surprise—had someone found out about her departure? But she hadn't told a soul she was leaving! The figure strode out from the shadows and into the low, orange light of the streetlamp.

"Saki," Yuki snarled, surprised and displeased at seeing her younger sister.

Saki's small frame was trembling, and her hands were balled into fists. "Yuki," Saki replied, her voice quavering with emotion.

For a moment, the two sisters regarded each other in silence. Yuki's eyes narrowed—how could Saki have spotted her? In a moment, Yuki cursed her own foolishness; if there had been a concealing genjutsu in place, then Yuki had probably just broken it by speaking. In fact, it seemed that Saki had not yet spotted Akemi, even though Akemi and Tobias were standing right next to Yuki.

Finally, Saki grunted. "Yuki, listen. I heard everything at home, with mom and dad."

Yuki shifted the weight of her pack, trying to think of the best way out of this situation. "So what?" Yuki snapped, annoyed that Saki was delaying her departure.

Saki blinked rapidly at that, which made Yuki suspect that she was holding back tears. Saki had always been weaker, subject to emotional outbursts;Yuki had thought that such emotional displays were taboo to shinobi, and had steeled herself towards stoicism. But if she were honest with herself, then Yuki would have had to admit that Saki was plainly displaying the emotions that Yuki herself was now fighting in her own heart.

Saki wiped her face with the back of her hand and exhaled sharply. "I don't know about what you read in the library, Yuki. I can hardly bring myself to believe what you said. But—I know our dad. Sure, he might be a maladroit, laconic, sarcastic, annoying authoritarian figure..." Here Saki trailed off, because her voice was too choked with emotion to continue. She swiped at her eyes again, cleared her throat, and pressed on, "But he's our _dad._ He's never done anything to hurt us, he's always—"

"He's a lier, Saki. And he poisoned me with _that_ jutsu." Yuki didn't bother to elaborate; after all, if Saki had been eaves-dropping on her conversation with their parents, she would know that Yuki was talking about the mangekyo.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Saki wailed. "Dad showers you with attention all the time! He's always sparing with you, and he gave you a summoning contract! And then he gives you a supped up version of the sharingan, and you're mad as hell! What the fuck? Why are you so fucking _unhappy_?"

Yuki shook her head; obviously, Saki had no _idea_ what the mangekyo really was. Saki continued, "I followed dad. He left the house after you left; I've never seen him so _sad_. You know where he went? He went to uncle Itachi's memorial stone, muttering to himself and calling himself the world's biggest fuck-up_._ Kami, Yuki, I couldn't get too close, but I think he was weeping_—_otousan was _crying_! Dammit Yuki, he's sorry! I'm sure he only meant—"

"That's enough, Saki," Yuki growled. Saki didn't understand a damn thing about what she was going through, and her speech was only pissing Yuki off. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way. I'm leaving, and I'm leaving _now_."

Saki's eyes grew wide with surprise. "You can't. You can't fucking _leave_!"

Yuki's heart sank at Saki's piteous plee, but she forced her voice to be steady. "I'm sorry, but I need to."

"I'll _scream_," Saki hissed. "Don't you—"

But Yuki moved quickly; before Saki could shout, Yuki was face to face with her sister. "Saki. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry." Yuki heaved a huge sigh; then, she concentrated her chakra, and eyes began to whirl—

"No child, don't use _that_ jutsu!" Akemi yelled.

To Saki's eyes, it seemed as though her grandmother's form, seated upon an oversized cat, materialized out of thin air. "Baachan?" Saki called softly. "What are you doing here?" But when Saki's gaze traveled to the cat Akemi was sitting on, Saki paled. "Oh Kami! It's a summons! You're in league with—I don't know, but you— you're not supposed to!" Saki sputtered. "What the HELL is going on!"

Yuki shook her head. If she couldn't place her sister under genjutsu, what the fuck was she supposed to do with her?

Because Kami, Saki was as loud as a screaming banshee, and they were trying to _avoid_ detection, not welcome it with open arms.

* * *

><p>Sasuke sat in front of Itachi's memorial, by the entrance to the old Uchiha compound. Of course, Itachi's body was not beneath it, as per the rules of the village to prevent any idiot who wanted to raise the dead via edo tensei. Sasuke sighed; he had wanted to bury Itachi's eyes under the memorial once they were removed from his head during the transplant, but Naruto forbade it. Instead, the tiny bottle of ashes—all that remained of Itachi's incinerated eyes—were scattered to the winds at a secret location by an ANBU agent. Such were the times they lived in: the paranoia that armies of zombie invaders might level Konoha prevented any ninja from having a decent burial.<p>

Sasuke gazed up at the memorial statue, two larger than life birds facing each other, a dove carved out of alabaster and a crow made out of black stone. Black and white. That was the way of the ninja world: any shades of gray were undefinable, unacceptable, thrown to the winds like Itachi's secret ashes. The Uchiha clan had been such an abomination; therefore, they had been annihilated.

Itachi had been a "hero" for destroying his clan, but outwardly, had taken on all the labels of villainy to protect his beloved village—to protect his younger brother. Black and white, swirling together in some epic game of spin art, the colors spiraling against each other but never mixing, retaining the purity of darkness and light. Darkness inside of light and light inside of darkness.

And then, there was Sasuke—Sasuke whose eyes had bled from light to darkness twice, and had come most recently from darkness to light to purpled sight. It seemed that Sasuke had always lived in the gray, the fuzzy edges of where truth and falsehood merged, a fog so dense that any hopes of definition were impossible.

Who was he, really? Was he just fooling himself when he played the good guy—when he pretended to be a loving father and a loyal husband? Underneath it all, was he just a gray soul, the kind that should have been eradicated long ago? For who could trust a moral sense that could not tell the difference between night and day, white and black, without someone pointing it out for him?

And here, in front of the last vestiges of Itachi, Sasuke wept. His life was a lie and his soul was gray; in one foolish moment, he had foisted a life of suffering—the entirety of the Uchiha's burden—upon his eldest daughter. His daughter, whom he cherished more than the breath in his lungs or the stars shimmering in the moonless sky; his daughter, who hated him, and rightfully so.

Traitor. Deceiver. _Murderer._

How did he ever let Sakura and Naruto fool him into thinking that he could have been something besides darkness? Any painter knows that if even a small speck of black paint mixes in with white, no amount of turpentine can wash the white clean; it is forever condemned to be gray, no matter how much white paint is added back in. And it is only a matter of time before that suspended gray blooms, spreading further into darkness. White is a weak color, and darkness is the logical conclusion to life; to the day; the ultimate dissolution.

"I'm sorry, Itachi. I should have never..." Sasuke sighed and looked up at the monolithic sculpture of the crow, its stone eyes glinting with starlight as if the bird had some sentient soul.

"Itachi. You should have never left me..." The ambiguous statement hung in the air; a passing cloud obscured a patch of stars, and the glow in the crow's eye vanished, leaving it dead once more.

* * *

><p><em>an yes, I'm aware that currently in the manga Sasuke doesn't have tsukuyomi; but I have faith that eventually, he'll figure it out (maybe after he and Itachi own Kabuto together, mwhahaha). In any event, Yuki can cast tsukuyomi, albeit a weak one at this point._

_Please review;) What did you like? What did you not like?_


	28. Chapter 28: Uchiha vrs Uchiha

Hi dears, welcome back! I really want to try to update this fic weekly, but life is really crazy. I'll try my best!

I'm experimenting with a more economical style of writing; I think I tend to get awfully wordy, so I've pared down my language a lot in this chapter. Please let me know how you like it!

:)

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><p>Chapter Twenty-Eight: <strong>Uchiha vrs Uchiha<strong>

_What is there to gain by firing_

_Hot forges and forming weapons?_

_To help the soldier kill for unknown gain,_

_Leaving the fields burned and barren._

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse XV_

Akemi formed hand-signs and a silver dome rose over the assembled ninja, just in time. An ANBU member strode by on his rounds, neatly missing the traumatic Uchiha reunion taking place under the archway.

Saki was about to scream, but Yuki threw her arms around her, restraining and silencing her at the same time. "Akemi baachan," Yuki whispered once the patrol had passed, "what do you want me to do?" Yuki already had scores of bite marks on her arms from Saki, who was trying to wiggle free of Yuki's hold.

Akemi sighed. "On the one hand, time is of the essence. On the other, it would be wrong not to give your sister an explanation." Akemi's gaze shifted lower to Saki. "Saki-chan, I'd like to discuss this with you...just not right here."

Tobias looked up at his mistress, concerned. "Baachan, you shouldn't hold this genjutsu for too long. Especially not right before a long journey!"

"I know Tobias-san. Saki-chan—come with us."

Saki nodded. Warily,Yuki released her.

They came to a lake about half a mile from the gates. Akemi placed her blue glowing palms on the water and the silver dome emerged again, this time larger than before. Akemi explained, "The water helps to echo the genjutsu."

"I don't care about that," Saki snapped. "I want to know what the hell is going on here!"

Akemi sighed. "Dearest, Yuki is being targeted, and I'm taking her to a place where she won't be found."

"But our parents don't know—and neither does Hokage-sama! And you are expressly _forbidden _from summoning cats!"

"I beg to differ," Tobias chimed in, offended. "I happen to be a nin cat. We are, in fact, a different breed from summons."

"Furthermore_,_" Saki continued, ignoring him, "since when did you do _jutsu, _granny? Something is definitely wrong here." She planted her hands on her hips and glowered at her grandmother.

"Saki," Yuki growled, "obviously we can't tell you more or you would be in danger."

"I don't fucking believe you! Why on earth are you _leaving?" _Saki wailed.

"Because I have to."

"That's bullshit! You can't just leave! You can't leave _me_!"

"I can too," Yuki seethed. "Just—stop being so annoying already!"

Akemi shook her head. "I'm afraid this is getting us nowhere. Saki-chan, dearest, please believe me. Yuki is in danger and I'm taking her somewhere safe. That's all I can tell you right now. Now listen, I'm going to place you under a gentle genjutsu, and when you wake up—"

"Fuck that, baachan!" Saki wailed.

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Baachan, why did you think reasoning with her would work? Saki wouldn't know reason if it bit her on her ass."

"That's _it_, Yuki! I'm tired of this! High and mighty Yuki, the Uchiha _prodigy_, so much better than everyone else! Fuck that! Dad's always favoring you and _this_ is how you repay him!" Akemi made a motion to intervene, but Saki continued, "No, _no_ baachan! I don't know _what's_ going on, but you'll have to leave this village over my dead body!"

Yuki exhaled sharply. She knew it would come to this; Saki didn't understand words, only fists. "Fine, Saki, let's fight. If you win, I stay. If I win, I leave."

"Fine! Let's do it!" Saki spat. And with that, she punched the ground into bits, forcing Yuki to stumble back.

_Shit. Should have specified taijutsu only. At this rate, even with granny's genjutsu, we're going to be detected for sure._ Forming hand-signs, Yuki reenforced Akemi's masking genjutsu. _That should do it—_

There was no more time to think—Saki was coming at her at top speed. Yuki dodged Saki's fist and lashed out at her sister, but Saki evaded Yuki easily, and matched every one of her blows.

Yuki threw shuriken, and while Saki was busy dodging them, Yuki formed a clone to take her place. Yuki moved into the shadows behind Saki's and prepared to strike, but Saki threw kunai in all directions, simultaneously banishing Yuki's clone while forcing Yuki to defend herself. That was all the opening Saki needed—she charged Yuki with a kunai.

Yuki barely had time to parry.

"You're not leaving!" Saki wailed as she threw a shower of senbone. Yuki punched the earth and used the displaced ground as a shield. _This is ridiculous—I really, really need to end this! _Yuki thought frantically. Quickly, Yuki formed an illusion that would slow down Saki's sense of time—

"Kai!" Saki shouted before breaking through Yuki's shield and smashing it into pieces. Yuki leapt back, her sharigan eyes whirling.

"You've improved, little sister."

"DON'T PATRONIZE ME!" Saki roared as she slammed her foot down, shattering the earth and forcing Yuki to leap backwards. From the corner of her eye, Yuki saw Akemi leaning heavily on Tobias as she struggled to maintain the genjutsu.

Seeing that served to strengthen Yuki's resolve. With commas whirring in her irises, Yuki looked up into Saki's eyes—

Only to find her sister's viridian eyes replaced by a three black commas whirling on a field of crimson, mirroring Yuki's own.

_Damn._

* * *

><p>After visiting Itachi's memorial, Sasuke made his way back to a silent house. He assumed everyone had gone to sleep, but when he opened the door to Yuki's room, she was still absent. He lingered at her door, as if he could simply will her to appear, before making his way to the roof.<p>

He leaned against the chimney, staring at the remote stars, before closing his eyes. He fell into an uneasy sleep, where dark dreams slithered over him.

He found himself in a grassy clearing with no sun or moon, though there was light shining from all sides. In that half-darkness, Itachi, his black and red Akatsuki cloak billowing out behind him, beckoned for Sasuke to fight him. Without thinking, Sasuke flung himself at his older brother with killing intent.

Everything was hazy as Sasuke and Itachi threw shuriken and kunai at each other. From the midst of the weapons falling like sleet between them, a pair of sharingan eyes appeared and took up Sasuke's vision, crimson and cadmium boring into Sasuke like a drill aimed straight at his heart—

Sasuke work with a start, beads of sweat forming on his brow. It was morning. The rising sun colored everything a dusky mauve, and for a moment Sasuke swore it was blood. He shook his head.

"I wonder if Yuki has returned," Sasuke muttered. He could physically check her room, or he could reach out with his sensory chakra to check. He chose to do neither. Instead, he watched the dawn dyeing the sky red and saffron.

Usually his sight filled him with joy when he watched the sunrise, but not today. Instead, the colors of the sunrise only deepened his melancholy. Yuki's parting words repeated themselves in his head:

_I __**hate**__ you._

Sasuke couldn't blame his daughter for her sentiment. After all, he hated himself, too.

* * *

><p>The last thing Yuki remembered was staring at her sister's sharingan before being sucked into a genjutsu.<p>

"Where am I?" Saki muttered as she took in their surroundings, a forest clearing lit on all sides by an invisible sun.

Yuki shrugged, then came at Saki with a glowing kunai.

"I tried putting you under genjutsu—but then your sharingan activated."

Saki countered Yuki's blow before replying, "So. Whose genjutsu are we in?"

"Don't know," Yuki replied, leaping back. "I'm new at this. But if I were to guess, I'd say it's mine. My sharingan is more developed than yours." Yuki crouched low and launched herself at her sister once more.

With a growl, Saki pushed Yuki back and formed a series of hand-signs. "We'll see about that!" Saki snapped. The scenery changed, and Yuki was cast into darkness. Yuki shook her head and, irises whirling, she shot out a series of snakes from her wrists, their writhing forms dispelling the darkness and binding her sister instead.

With a smirk, Saki disappeared in a poof of smoke and a blinding light robbed Yuki of her sight. Yuki rolled out of the way as Saki delivered a debilitating blow to the earth, shattering the ground beneath them. Though they were battling inside of a genjutsu, any damage dealt in this realm would have very real effects on the body, and Yuki was careful to avoid any direct hits.

The harsh light cleared, and so did Yuki's vision. Before her, Saki was panting heavily.

"I'm sorry..." Yuki began, but trailed off lamely.

Saki braced her arms on her legs and glared at her sister, her crimson eyes glinting. "Sorry for what? Jackass."

Yuki took a deep breath. "The sharingan usually develops under traumatic circumstances." Yuki moved her head to the right in order to avoid a kunai, thrown courtesy of her younger sister, before continuing, "I think I'm beginning to understand...just how painful my leaving is to you." Yuki's eyes misted over, thinking about how her own ocular jutsu had activated in the wake of Ryuu's death. She sighed.

Saki barred her teeth and wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand. "You're always tell me to piss off! That I'm annoying, or unskilled, or...! But I'm not, I'm a powerful kunoichi in my own right! Why won't you acknowledge me? Why...?" Saki's bitter tirade petered out.

The sisters regarded each other in silence.

"I'm sorry Saki-chan. Just please—trust me. When I come back, I promise—I'll be a better sister," Yuki ventured into the silence. At her words, Saki's gaze rose to meet Yuki's own, and Yuki cast her final genjutsu—

Reality came shimmering back into existence as the illusion dissolved. Yuki blinked, finding her prone sister at her feet. Tenderly, Yuki scooped up her sister in her arms. "Have sweet dreams, Saki-chan. The illusion should fade by midmorning." Yuki turned to meet Akemi and continued more loudly, "I'm going to return Saki to the village. I'll be right back."

Weary but relieved, Akemi nodded.

Yuki held Saki tightly as she ran back to the village. She waited a moment by the gate as a sentry passed before placing her sister on a stone bench. Yuki turned away as the chill night breeze ruffled her hair and made her shiver. Just as she was about to leave, she gazed back over her shoulder at Saki, who was trembling from the cold in her sleep. With a sigh, Yuki removed her jacket.

"Here. You'll need this more than me."

Saki mumbled in her slumber, "I'm graduating...from the academy tomorrow. You'd better be there, nee-san…you'll be proud of me..." Saki trailed off, her words becoming incoherent, as she curled up under the black coat. Yuki swore softly. She had forgotten that Saki's graduation was tomorrow, and she cursed her timing, but there was no help for it now.

Yuki smoothed Saki's brow, funneling a bit more chakra into the illusion to ensure pleasant dreams, before she flitted through the gates and out of the village. The wind sighed through the leaves of the trees as Saki snuggled under her warm blanket and fell into a deep, dream-filled sleep.

* * *

><p>"Sasuke, have you seen Yuki? Or Saki?" Sakura called as she made coffee in the kitchen.<p>

Sasuke bounced Takeo on his hip. "No—Saki's gone too?"

"Maybe they went to train early," Sakura muttered as she made her coffee.

"Maybe..." Sasuke agreed, though inwardly he was feeling uneasy. "I think I'll take Takeo-chan for an early morning walk, see where they've gotten off to."

"You're not a long range chakra sensor, and it's a long walk between here and the million places they might be—and, no offense, but you look a bit bleary eyed."

"I'm fine."

"Uh-huh..." Sakura gazed at Sasuke over the rim of her coffee cup. "You want me to make you some coffee before you go?"

At Sasuke's nod, Sakura chuckled and offered him her own cup while she made another for herself. "You know, Sasuke-kun… You shouldn't take what Yuki said so personally." Sasuke grimaced, but Sakura pressed on, "She is, for all intents and purposes, a teenager at this point. She's going to say nasty things."

Sasuke shook his head. "Everything she said was true..."

Sakura smiled and leaned her head against Sasuke's shoulder. "No. Not everything." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "I know for a fact that she doesn't hate you. She's just angry, and hurt, and probably confused."

Sasuke sighed, and some of the tension in his shoulders seemed to ease. They stood there in silence for a while, Sakura's head on his shoulder, Takeo sleepily rubbing his face on Sasuke's shirt.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," he said at last, kissing the top of her head.

Sakura chuckled and pulled away. "Good. You want breakfast before you go?"

"No..."

"Come on, you can't go anywhere without _breakfast._ Hasn't your doctor ever told you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?"

"Sakura?"

"Hmm?"

"You're my doctor."

"Yeah, I know!"

Sasuke snorted. "I'll just take some fruit, thanks. See you later."

"Love you, Sasuke."

Sasuke froze in the doorway and met her gaze. "Love...you too."

"Bye bye mama!" Takeo called cheerfully as he grabbed a banana from Sasuke's hands.

Sasuke roamed through the streets of Konoha. He checked all the typical places: the training grounds, main street, the academy, but there was no sign of either of them. Eventually, he found himself rapping on the Uzumaki's door. He heard the slow shuffle of footsteps, and finally, the large wooden door revealed Hoshiko. "Sasuke-san?"

"Hoshiko-chan, have you seen Saki-chan at all?"

The young girl blinked, then shook her head from side to side. "No, I'm sorry Sasuke-san, I haven't seen her since yesterday at school."

Sasuke frowned. "Is dad home?"

"Uh huh, he just had his morning coffee...I think he's looking over his speech for our graduation today!" she chimed, smiling widely. "Would you like to come in?"

Sasuke nodded and entered the Uzumaki abode, removing his shoes by the doorway. "I'll get otousan..." Hoshiko called before taking off down the hall. Sasuke followed her slowly, his vision still blurry from lack of sleep.

"Otousan! Sasuke-san is here!" Hoshiko called brightly as she heralded Sasuke's arrival.

"Oh, hey, good morning Sasuke! What's going down on this beautiful, sun-shining day?" Naruto greeted.

Sasuke winced. Really, the last thing the overly excitable Hokage needed was _coffee_ in the morning; the stuff just made Naruto absolutely intolerable_._ "I seem to have...er...lost both of my daughters. Would you mind...?"

Naruto blinked. "You make it sound like you misplaced them or something..."

Sasuke took a deep breath before replying, "Can you just find them? _Please?"_

"Sheesh, who put sandpaper on your toilet seat this morning?" Naruto offered jokingly, trying and failing to lighten the mood. When Sasuke leveled him a harried look, Naruto mumbled, "Um...sorry. Anyway, it's no problem! Just leave it to me!"

Sasuke nodded silently.

Naruto sat on the rug closed his eyes. Soon, the flesh around his eyes turned orange, a tell-tale sign that Sage Mode had been activated. "Well, Saki is easy. She's by the front gate. Seems like she's sleeping—that's kind of weird. Hmmm. Now where is Yuki..."

As the minutes ticked by and Naruto remained silent, his features slowly working their way into a grimace, Sasuke felt his stomach knot. An ecstatic Sora-chan entered the room, but Sasuke hardly heard what the child said. He put Takeo down on the floor to meet his playmate, while his eyes remained fixed on Naruto.

Finally, able to stand the silence no longer, Sasuke ventured, "Naruto...?"

"Hold on," Naruto snapped.

Sasuke bit his lip and waited. The Uchiha had never been a patient man, but with his lack of sleep catching up with him, and the acidic bite of coffee churning his insides, Sasuke couldn't help but to continue biting his lip until he drew blood. Finally,Naruto's eyelids fluttered open.

"Shit Sasuke. I can't find her!"

"What the fuck do you _mean_? Naruto! NARUTO!"

"Damn it teme, calm the fuck down. I'm the Hokage, and I swear I'll—"

"I thought you gave her the hiraishin tattoo—are you telling me—"

Naruto shook his head. "Someone's blocking the signal. Let's go."

Sasuke didn't protest when Naruto grabbed his hands and hiraishined to his office. There was not a minute to waste.

* * *

><p><em>an please review;) What did you like? What did you hate?_


	29. Chapter 29: Pursuit

_Welcome back friends! Looks like I'm keeping on track with my updates, hoorah! Hope you all are having a lovely weekend, and I hope you enjoy the next installment of SoA!_

_:)_

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><p>Chapter Twenty-Nine: <strong>Pursuit<strong>

_I once had friends and kin,_

_A loving wife by my side;_

_Now all I have are memories of war,_

_And exile on the mountainside._

_~The Book Of Akash, Verse XVI_

Naruto slammed his hands down on the desk. "I want ever single ANBU agent out looking for that girl!"

Shino bowed. "Hokage-sama?"

"What!" Naruto bellowed.

"Shouldn't we leave some agents...to guard the village...?"

"Don't worry about the village. I'll take care of it as if it were my own..." Naruto was about to say, _as if it were my own child_, but he let those bitter words trail off like the smoke of a snuffed candle. "I'll take care of it, damn it! Now go!"

"Yes sir," Shino buzzed before dissolving into a cloud of insects.

Once he was gone, Naruto began pummeling his desk with his fists. "Damn it! Gods damn it!"

"Naruto?" Sakura whispered as she entered the office, looking pale and stricken.

Naruto paused mid-punch and slumped into his chair with groan. "I swear to Kami, we'll bring Yuki back! Sakura!"

Sakura shook her head and gestured to the doorway, where Sasuke and Saki stood, the latter looking even more sallow than her mother. "Saki, you'd better tell the Hokage what happened," Sakura whispered.

Saki stepped forward, and Naruto swore he had never seen the brash girl look so forsaken.

"Saki, what happened?" Naruto demanded, but Saki closed her eyes and remained silent. Naruto decided to take a gentler approach. He leapt over his desk and put a reassuring hand on Saki's trembling shoulders. "Whatever it is, Saki-chan. You can tell me; I'm your Hokage, after all..."

Saki bit her lower lip until it bled, and with effort, she snapped her eyes open. Naruto gasped. Instead of green irises, so similar to Sakura's eyes, he was faced with two black commas dancing on a field of red.

"She's gone," Saki whispered. "She's gone—and it's my fault. I wasn't strong enough! I'm sorry!" Saki sank down to her knees and wept. Naruto's questioning gaze snapped up to Sasuke and Sakura, who only shook their heads in silence.

Naruto took a deep breath and a steady hand on Saki's back. "Saki, try and calm down. If you want to help your sister, you need to take a deep breath and tell me _everything_."

Saki sniffled. "Okay. I'll try."

Sasuke and Sakura leaned on each other for support as Saki's story unfolded, swaying like hunched willow trees.

* * *

><p>Sasuke activated his doujutsu and surveyed the surrounding forest, but still found no trace of Yuki. He hissed. What good were these purple eyes if he couldn't find his own daughter? He pressed the walkie talkie button impatiently.<p>

"Sakura?"

"Kchh. Any sign on your end, Sasuke?"

"Negative. I'm assuming, by your question, that you haven't found anything either?"

"Kchh. We'll find her Sasuke..."

Sasuke wasn't so sure. From Saki's fragmented story, it seemed that Akemi was taking Yuki somewhere for Yuki's own "protection"; furthermore, their supposedly civilian grandmother could perform jutsu. Sasuke didn't want to believe that Akemi was an outside agent, but all signs pointed to it. For how long had Akemi worked for some unknown, underground syndicate? How long had she been plotting Yuki's abduction?

"Kchh. Sasuke, stop brooding and start looking."

"I am looking," Sasuke snarled into the walkie talkie.

Sakura replied over line, more softly, "Kchh. I'm sure Akemi-baachan has a good explanation for what she's doing."

Sasuke muttered, "I hope you're right, Sakura."

"Kchh. Sasuke, this is _baachan._ The little old lady who made us our wedding rings, who conspired to get us together; who baked us cookies when we got engaged, and bought our kids birthday presents every year, without fail. _Baachan,_ Sasuke."

Sasuke grimaced; he knew all too well what people were capable of, beloved family members or not. After all, Itachi had loved him, too. "I'm going to concentrate on my search now. Buzz me right away if you find anything."

"Kchh. Okay. Over and out."

It wasn't long before Sasuke was accosted by one of Naruto's clones.

"Yo! Sasuke! Over here!"

Sasuke nearly jumped out of his skin at Naruto's brash entrance. "Any news?" he snapped.

"Well, I've dispatched every single member of the ANBU..."

"I know that, idiot."

"Anyway, yeah, I'm sure we'll find her tracks soon!" Naruto replied with false cheer.

"So...we have zero leads."

"Ummm...we're working hard and covering a lot of ground."

"Naruto?"

"Yes?"**  
><strong>"Take your 'glass is half full' optimism and shove it. Okay?"

Naruto sighed. "I'm only a clone, you know."

"Yes, and you are every bit as annoying as the real thing," Sasuke muttered. "If you don't have anything important to tell me, go do something useful."

With that, the clone petulantly poofed out of existence, leaving Sasuke to search on his own.

_Damn these eyes..._ Sure, Sasuke had some kind of supped up version of the sharingan, but damn it, something like the byakugan would be much more useful at a time like this. Of course, Sasuke couldn't complain about the lack of byakugan users on their search team. In addition to the _entire_ ANBU division, roughly half of the Hyuga clan was out looking for his wayward child, including Hiashi-sama himself.

But it was getting dark, and there were still no signs of Yuki, just some well placed traps and false leads that Yuki had laid in her wake. Seriously—half of Konoha's elite forces were stumped trying to find a ten year old girl, a little old lady, and a cat. It was enough to make the former Hokages roll over in their graves—if the majority of them hadn't had their souls sealed into the Death God's gastrointestinal system.

Saki had described Akemi's genjutsu abilities, and had had her head probed by Ino, but this intel did not aid Konoha in the slightest. It seemed that no one had any _idea_ how this particular jutsu operated—least of all how to see through it. All the byakugan users in the world were going to be of no use if they couldn't see through this kind of genjutsu.

Sasuke clenched his fists in frustration and punched a nearby tree, leaving a sizable dent in its bark.

_Yuki—where the hell are you?_

* * *

><p>"Akemi-baachan, are you all right?" Yuki asked. They had been traveling the whole night and most of the morning without a substantial break, and Akemi was looking wan. "We should take a break."<p>

Tobias slowed until he came to a stop, and Akemi slid off his back with a grateful smile. "We shouldn't rest long, child. We only have half a day's lead on the village..."

Yuki nodded. "I formed a clone a while back and had her set up some traps and false tracks. It should buy us some more time..."

Akemi shook her head. "Akash is at least a day and a half journey, even for seasoned ninja. If we push ahead—"

"Then you are going to collapse from exhaustion," Yuki interjected. "We're resting for an hour. Please get some sleep, baachan, and then we'll continue our journey."

Akemi exhaled sharply. "Okay."

Yuki smiled and put her hand on the old woman's shoulders. "Rest. We'll be fine. I'll hold up the genjutsu while you sleep."

Akemi nodded and laid down on a bed of pine needles, but before she dozed off, Yuki asked her, "Baachan? Do you think I can summon Tama now?"

Akemi bit her lower lip. "I'm not sure. The chakra might activate your hiraishin seal and give away our presence... It's best to wait until we're closer to our destination."

Yuki nodded. "Understood."

Akemi fell into a fitful slumber, while Yuki scanned the woods for any danger.

She woke Akemi in an hour, and the trio began traveling once more, Yuki insisting on breaks when Akemi looked like she was about to fall off of Tobias' back. They traveled until evening, when, weary, they made camp for the night. Yuki had never traveled for so long with so little sleep, and she was exhausted.

"Tobias and I will take turns with the watch baachan; you just rest," Yuki murmured as she passed out their dinner rations.

Akemi nodded. "I'd argue with you, but I will be needing the sleep. I am a centenarian, after all..."

"I'll take the first watch," Tobias offered around a mouth full of tuna jerky. "I am not weary."

Yuki was about to protest, but instead, she yawned. Akemi laughed at that.

But about an hour later, Yuki lay flat on her bedroll, staring up at the stars, unable to sleep despite her exhaustion. Sighing, she rose and padded her way over to where Tobias was keeping watch.

"Child?"

"I'm not a child, Tobias. I'm a genin."

The nin cat laughed, but not unkindly. "Excuse me then. Having trouble sleeping?"

"Hn." Yuki perched down next to the cat, resting her chin on a balled fist. "Tobias-san?"

"Yes?"

"Have you ever...said something really mean? Like, really, _really_ mean? That you didn't really mean, but you meant at the time...?"

Tobias chuckled again. "That was a bit complex, but I think I catch your drift. What did you say?"

Yuki began pulling grass out of the ground. "I sort of—told my dad I hated him. But he deserved it. But..." Yuki trailed off, at a loss for words.

"But you don't really hate him, do you?"

Yuki bit her lower lip. "I do hate him...but...maybe not one hundred percent. Does that make sense?" She sighed and layed down on her back, observing the stars. "I mean, he's a pretty okay dad, but I found out some kind of disturbing things about him. It got me thinking... You think you know someone, you know?" Yuki was silent for a moment, regarding the stars while ripping out the grass. "I just... I always thought otousan was perfect, but it turns out he's a murderer—he betrayed his own village...and…"

Tobias eyed her askance. "When did you find all that out?"

"When I broke the seals at the library."

"I see." They were quiet for a while, listening to the sounds of the crickets and the high pitched squeals of the bats. Finally, Tobias murmured, "It is hard, isn't it? When we learn that our parents are mere mortals, with flaws and imperfections like the rest of us."

Yuki chewed her lower lip. "Hm. I used to watch the stars, a lot, with my father..."

Tobias mewed quitely before shifting his weight onto his back paws. "He must love you very much."

Yuki exhaled hotly. After a while, Tobias realized the girl had fallen asleep and he smiled. Perhaps he would take a longer watch and allow Yuki to sleep.

* * *

><p>"The graduation will proceed as planned!" Tsunade barked, hitting the Hokage's desk with a balled fist.<p>

Iruka gulped and took a step back. "Of course, Tsunade-sama!"

"Because we're going to need every man and woman on deck! I know it's only a formality, but it is necessary. Do you understand me, Iruka? I want you to graduate those children NOW!"

"Yes—yes of course, Tsunade-sama!" Iruka yelped. "Just one question: your plans for Team Five?"

Tsunade bit her lip; Team Five was Yuki's team. "We'll proceed with our plans to disband and reform Team Five. Tadashi and Yuki paired together was just a disaster..." Tsunade sighed and plopped herself down in her chair before continuing in a quieter tone, "At this point, I have no doubt that Yuki will return. Relay that to Cho and to her new teammates, Nara Hayato and Uzumaki Hoshiko."

Iruka nodded, relieved at the Tsunade's change in tone. "Of course. But…I thought we were going to revoke Yuki's genin's status? And as for Saki's request, are we going to deny it, or...?"

Tsunade sighed again and placed her elbows on the desk, leaning forward and looking at the sheet in front of her intently. "Yes, of course, please excuse me. I'm too old and senile to do this job." Tsunade shook her head bitterly and continued, "Make Team Five a four man cell for now: Akimichi Cho, Uzumaki Hoshiko, Nara Hayato, and Uchiha Saki. Yes, yes, that would work. Anyway, when Yuki returns, her genin status will be temporarily revoked. I want her to do some solo work with Kakashi and Sasuke, and anyway, I think she needs a break from regular teamwork in light of...recent events."

Iruka nodded. "Excellent choice, Hokage— Excuse me, I mean Tsunade-sama. One last thing. Are you sure you want to hold Tadashi back? His parents, Neji and Tenten, will be displeased."

"The boy is too immature!" Tsunade barked. "If he's officially placed on a team now, it will only lead to more impulsive behavior! Tadashi, like Yuki, is going to be taking a break from teamwork and will be doing private lessons until further notice. Now go prepare for the ceremony. I need a moment to work on my commencement speech!"

Iruka bowed and backed away as quickly as he could. "Of course, Tsunade-sama! Right away!"

Once Iruka left the office, Tsunade turned to the portrait of the previous Hokages and sighed. "I'm too fucking old to do this job..." Tsunade shook her head and regarded the painting of the Third. "Now I know how you must have felt, old man. There's nothing worse than handing over this job to the future, only to have to fill in when death and tragedy hit..."

She turned away from the watchful eyes of her predecessors, and procured a flask of sake from her robes. Perhaps, if she had been a better Hokage, she could have given Naruto a peaceful Konoha as her legacy. Instead, she watched his child perish, and then stood by, helpless, as another young genin was taken from the village.

Tsunade shook her head and grabbed a pen from her desk, which promptly broke from her grasp. "I need to think of positive things to say! Commencement speech, commencement speech..."

* * *

><p>Yuki forced her eyelids to stay open. The first fingers of dawn were drawing across the sky; she would wait until the deep blue bled into ocher before she would awaken her companions.<p>

Yuki was nervous. Hell, that was an understatement. She felt like she had a rabid pack of butterflies in her stomach that were trying to eat their way out of her guts. She tried to think herself out of her growing panic, but it didn't work; with only the pale colors of early morning to keep her company, her mind had begun to go haywire from the lack of sleep and from stress.

For one thing, they hadn't been able to maintain their genjutsu barrier all night. They were all exhausted, and had needed to replenish their chakra. But the absence of the silver barrier made Yuki feel naked. She was sure the ANBU were already hot on their tracks.

Did she have what it took to defeat a squad of elite jonin ninja? Probably not. Granted, she had the freaky mangekyo sharingan, but she hardly knew how to use it. She could probably whip out a good facsimile of tsukuyomi if push came to shove, but maybe it would be better to just put the barrier up again?

She formed a few hand-signs, but before she could activate the jutsu, a paw landed on top of her hands. "There's no need to cast the illusion until we start moving. I've already done a large sweep of the perimeter. There's no one around for miles."

"Thanks, Tobias-san." Yuki breathed a huge sigh of relief and rose, stretching her aching muscles.

The rest of the morning was uneventful. They ate their dry rations in silence, then they hit the road.

"How much farther is it, baachan?" Yuki asked as she strode alongside Tobias.

"If all goes well, we should reach Akash by the end of the day."

Yuki nodded. That didn't seem impossible. If they kept up the grueling pace from the day before and made it to safety by nightfall, then all would be well. She wanted to ask her baachan more questions, but the old woman was weary from just holding on to Tobias while casting the genjutsu, so Yuki remained silent.

By mid afternoon, the summer sun was beating down on their heads, and Yuki insisted they take a rest by a cool stream in the shade. The genin took off her sweaty sandals and with a grateful sigh, stuck her feet into the freezing water. Tobias, his fur slick with sweat, did the same. Yuki didn't blame him; she didn't know how he could sport a fur coat in hot weather like this. She spared a glance for baachan, who was breathing heavily.

"Baachan? Are you all right?"

Akemi nodded weakly. "Yes, but, ah, I think I'll need you to take over the genjutsu from here on out."

"Of course! I was waiting for you to ask! I'm so careless, I should have offered to begin hours ago." Weary but determined,Yuki made the hand-signs; Akemi released her jutsu and Yuki cast hers.

"Oh no!" Akemi cried.

Yuki's eyes widened. "What?"

Tobias instantly flew towards the two kunoichi and scooped them up onto his back, then picked up their packs in his mouth, tossing them up to his two riders as he sped off.

"Baachan?"

"Hush. We're being followed."

Yuki covered her mouth with her hand. How? It must have been when they switched the genjutsu—their pursuers had had a split second to observe the transfer. Yuki could have slapped herself if she wasn't holding on to Tobias' fur for dear life. _Damn. This is all my fault!_

Tobias ran swiftly, but Yuki could tell that the nin cat was already tired from yesterday's journey. She knew their pursuers were closing in.

"Tobias-san, please take Akemi baachan to safety. I'll deal with the ANBU."

"No, child. You can't face a whole squad of jonin by yourself," Tobias replied flatly.

"Listen. If they catch you, they might kill you. But if they just capture me...they won't harm me."

The companions traveled on in silence, but Yuki could hear the subtle sounds of the shinobi behind them in hot pursuit. Sighing, Yuki dropped her jutsu; the illusion was useless if there was even the slightest break in the barrier. Yuki leapt off of Tobias' back and cried, "Go!"

No sooner had her friends left, then she was surrounded by a four man squad. But Yuki's sharingan was already active, and with her enhanced sight, she could tell exactly who her hunters were, despite their ANBU masks: Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and Temari.

_Shit._

* * *

><p><em>an Thanks for reading! Please review;)  
><em>


	30. Chapter 30: Ghost

_a/n welcome back all! I just want to say, I was going through a really hard week, and I was really depressed about my writing. You know, the whole emo "My writing is crap!" thing. I was even thinking about discontinuing this story; I felt like no one was reading it *sob*. BUT THEN, I got the most awesome reviews, a lot of them anonymous. You guys have no idea how happy your reviews made me. Seriously. Now, with renewed vigor, I present to you the next chapter._

_With you support, I felt really excited about editing this piece, and I'm really pleased with how it came out. I think it's my favorite chapter so far, and I have you guys to thank. Thanks so much for your encouragement!_

_Lol, also, like my new book cover? I made it myself! (heehee, I'm such a dork). The drawing of Yuki I did a long time ago, and the funky mountains in the back I made with my photoshop skillz:)  
><em>

_Without further ado: please enjoy:)_

* * *

><p>Chapter Thirty: <strong>Ghost<strong>

_The lady of the mountain, _

_She mourns both night and day;_

_And though the birds sing round our cabin,_

_They cannot keep the night away._

_~The First Book of Akash, verse XVII_

Yuki faced her opponents and fought to remain calm. Yes, Yuki was outnumbered and outclassed, but these ANBU were all fond of her, and would probably go easy on her. Quickly, she calculated that the most dangerous opponent by far was Shikamaru—without his leadership, his team would disintegrate. She had her plan.

There was a moment of silence as the four adults regarded Yuki. Ino was the first to remove her mask. "Yuki, honey...we're your friends. Please come back to the village. We don't want to fight you—"

But Yuki took the opportunity while Ino spoke to strike.

"Fire style! Fire ball jutsu!" While the adults were busy dodging her attack, Yuki took shelter in the branches of a tree and hid herself using genjutsu.

"Damn it, Ino!" Temari yelped as the ends of her hair caught on fire.

"Troublesome..." Shikamaru drawled as he leapt back, his brow furrowed in thought. "We should radio back—"

But a barrage of kunai assailed them, and Shikamaru had no time to finish his sentence. Temari swept the weapons away effortlessly with her fan, but while the ninja were distracted, Yuki slipped into their midst like a flitting shadow. She stood directly in front of Shikamaru, whose eyes widened as they met Yuki's sharingan. Just as quickly as she had appeared, Yuki was gone.

Temari turned to her husband, "So now what do we do now, Shikamaru? Shikamaru! Damn it, he's under genjutsu!" She tried channelling chakra into his system, but the illusion was too strong.

"Ah, such nice clouds," the Nara mumbled, "that one looks like the Buddha..."

"Shika! Wake the fuck up!" Temari bellowed.

After a few futile attempts at reviving Shikamaru, Temari turned to her comrades. "Ino, any ideas?"

She was met with silence.

"Ino—damn it! She's caught, too. Choji? Oh for fuck's sake!"

Temari snarled, realizing that her companions were all under genjutsu. It seemed like they were enjoying it, though. Ino was mumbling something about nail polish, and Choji was making unconscious chewing motions. Muttering curses, Temari pressed her walkie talkie button—

But before she could say a word, a jet stream of fire engulfed the walkie talkie. Temari flung away the flaming plastic and closed her eyes to guard against the genin's genjutsu.

"Yuki?"

"Temari-san."

Temari let out an exasperated sigh. "Stop this. Ten is too young to become a rogue ninja. Turn back now and no one will hold this against you; proceed, and you'll wind up on Konoha's most wanted list."

"That's true; my father was about thirteen when he became rogue. Looks like I'll beat his record," Yuki replied coolly.

"Yuki!"

The younger ninja advanced, but Temari braced herself with her fan, eyes still closed to guard against the sharingan. As a kunoichi of the desert, she had been trained to fight even in the heart of a wind-storm, sans sight; this fight would be child's play.

But as the strains of flute music rang out through the clearing, Temari became confused—and then very, _very_ alarmed. Because Yuki's father, after all, was legendary for being trained in sound jutsu... Before Temari could even flick her fan to ward off her impending doom, she began to sway. As her body fell towards the ground, Temari thought, idly, that Sasuke had perhaps trained his daughter a little too well.

"That was almost too easy," Yuki muttered as she disappeared from the clearing and ran to meet her traveling companions.

* * *

><p>"Naruto, it's the end of the second day..."<p>

"Baachan, I know, _I know!_" Naruto muttered as he paced around the office. "I just didn't think it would be this _hard."_

Just then, Shino materialized from a swarm of bugs. "Shino!" Naruto cried, "Tell me you have good news! Please, _please_ tell me you have good news!"

The corners of Shino's mouth turned downwards. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama. We were unable to locate team Ino-Shika-Cho-Tem until just now—"

"Where are they? Did they find Yuki—" Naruto shouted, until Tsunade whopped him on the head.

"Brat, be quiet and let your ANBU report! Shino?"

Shino cleared his throat. "We have reconnected with team Ino-Shika-et all. They had contact with Yuki at about noon today, and were all taken out by her genjutsu."

"WHAT!" cried both the former and current Hokages.

Shino winced. "Would you like me to repeat my intel, Hokage-sama?"

There was a moment of silence.

"You mean to tell me...that a ten year old genin...defeated four elite ANBU agents—_including_ my head of intelligence?" Naruto rasped.

Shino gulped. "Mmmm. That seems to be the case, Hokage-sama."

Naruto whipped out his walkie talkie. "Sasuke? Sasuke teme!"

"Kchhh. What do you want?" came Sasuke's irritated reply.

"Sasuke, you raised a monster. An absolute monster. Are you ready to jot down some coordinates?"

When Naruto was done barking orders, he sat down heavily in his chair. Thank heavens for the quasi-rinnegan Sasuke had in his head, Naruto thought; because Naruto was pretty sure that the only one who could take down one rabid Uchiha was another.

* * *

><p>The run-in with the ANBU hadn't delayed their progress by much. A slice of moon rose in the east, while the sunset illuminated the mountains to the west. Yuki gasped at the beautiful sight—the scene looked <em>exactly<em> as it had her dreams.

"Yuki dearest," Akemi called softly, "please summon Tama. She'll know the way from here."

Yuki bit her thumb and slammed it to the ground. When Tama materialized, Yuki shouted for joy and flung her arms around the cat's neck.

Tama purred, "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Yuki-san? But we don't have time for a long greeting. Things are quite dire..."

Yuki eyed the cat askance, but when no more information was forthcoming, she leapt up onto her summon's back. In a flash the four were off, flitting under the pale light of the moon. The wind roared in Yuki's ears as they climbed, higher and higher into the mountains.

When they were about half-way up the mountain side, clouds obscured the face of the moon, darkening the sky. Yuki's guts twisted in dread. Tama, beneath her, cried, "We have to hurry! He's coming!"

Yuki had no time to ask _who, _exactly, was coming, before the cats ran even faster. The clouds above rumbled, and a furious rain began to pelt the earth; lightning streaked the black heavens. Tama leapt through the darkness, and Yuki's breath caught in her throat—

As they hurdled through space, time congealed, and Yuki felt like they passed through a thick, invisible waterfall. The lightning stopped, and also the driving rain; the sky was clear and the waxing moon was grinning up in the sky as it if had never left.

"Thank Kami!" Tama sighed.

"What...?" Yuki began, but trailed off when she noticed that they were surrounded by shadowy figures. One of the strangers stepped forward into the light, but Yuki recognized her kind eyes and dark, curly hair.

"Aya..." Yuki breathed. This was the kunoichi who had saved her—who had appeared in her dreams. Aya spared Yuki a smile before rushing over to Akemi.

"Baachan," Aya whispered as she funneled green healing chakra into the bedraggled woman.

Akemi smiled weakly. "It's a pleasure to come home, Aya-chan. Now I can finally die in peace."**  
><strong>

"BAACHAN!" both Yuki and Aya shouted.

Akemi shrugged. "What? I'm not exactly a spring chicken anymore..."

Aya scoffed, "If you can make bad old people jokes, then you're all right."

"Oh dear me, please forgive an old woman her morbid sense of humor," Akemi remarked wryly. And then, more urgently: "How strong is the boundary?"

"Don't worry. It will last long enough..." Aya replied.

_Long enough for what?_ Yuki wondered. But she forgot all about her question when Aya took her hand.

"Welcome, Yuki-san, Tama-san. Thank Kami you've come."

Yuki offered Aya a wan smile. "Um...thanks." Yuki looked into Aya's warm, dark eyes, and had a strange sense of homecoming.

Aya chuckled. "You must be tired. We have a bed made up for you."**  
><strong>

_A bed—that sounds heavenly_, Yuki decided. "Thank you, Aya-sama, for your kindness."

Aya laughed again. "Please. Call me Aya-sensei."

Yuki nodded. "Aya…sensei."

Aya laughed her warm, ringing laughter and Yuki took a deep breath. For the first time in a long time, Yuki felt like everything was going to be okay.

Tama purred and licked Aya's arm. "It's good to be back, mistress."

Yuki eyed her summons in confusion. "What?"

Aya placed a small hand over her mouth. "Oh! Tama is my summons as well!" she chimed. "I guess we didn't have a chance to tell you."

Yuki looked at her summons in mute shock.

"I'm sorry, Yuki. That is why I had to fight Naruto and your father; I couldn't let them discover this place..." Tama began, but Aya cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"We'll talk about all that tomorrow. For now, baachan and Yuki should rest."

Yuki nodded gratefully; for once her weariness was greater than her curiosity.

* * *

><p>Sasuke wiped the sweat out of his eyes and called in on his walkie talkie again. "Kakashi?" he snapped.<p>

"Kchh. I've found her position, courtesy of Pakkun. You'll need to hurry."

"Just give me the coordinates!"

"Kchh. She's sixty degrees west of us by about one mile. Are you sure you don't want me to come? I know I'm no Uchiha, but my sharingan—"

Sasuke was already running at top speed as he barked, "No. This is my mess. I'll clean it up." And truly, Sasuke thought, anyone without his level of ocular jutsu would just be in the way.

Sasuke swore he heard Kakashi sigh on the other end of the line. "Kchh. Fine. Sakura and I will provide back up; we'll be just outside her sensorial range, a little over one-hundred feet—"

"That's no good, Kakashi," Sasuke broke in again, panting in between words. "The summons are going to have a wider range than that. Stand back at least five-hundred feet. And mask your chakra as well. Over."

"Kchh. Roger that. Over."

Sasuke ran through a meadow painted silver by the moonlight, scanning the contours of the land with his ocular jutsu. At last, he spied the cats carrying Akemi and Yuki on side of the mountain, their forms mere specs in the distance. Sasuke channeled chakra into his feet and ran with all his might, flying like a bird through the glinting moonlight.

Before long, the moon was hidden by clouds, and Sasuke stumbled through the shadows. Torrential rain hit his skin like a shower of senbone, but he ignored the pain. He keep running until his legs went numb, but Sasuke didn't care—his eyes were fixed on Yuki. He was getting closer; soon he would catch her in his arms and he would never let her go again—

Just as Sasuke was coming near, Yuki disappeared from sight. One minute she was there, and the next, she was just _gone._ The air turned as cold as ice, and Sasuke's breath froze in his lungs. His eyes darted wildly to find Yuki—but she was nowhere to be found. Sasuke wanted to keep running, but his body halted when he heard—

"Sasuke-_kun_."

Sasuke knew that voice. Without thinking, he hissed and executed the naraka path.

"That jutsu is not going to work on me, Sasuke-kun," his opponent rumbled.

But Sasuke summoned the demon's head all the same, and snarled when his masked adversary dissolved Sasuke's jutsu with a wave of his hand.

"Come now, Sasuke-kun, is that any way to greet your old sensei?"

Sasuke gnashed his teeth. "I am going to end you, Uchiha Madara. I am going to _fucking_ end you!" Sasuke's roared, as the jagged tongues of his chidori forked the air.

But Madara, cloaked in black, face obscured by an orange mask, laughed as he shimmered in the air like mist. "I didn't come to fight, Sasuke-kun. I just came to talk."

"My ass you did! Where did you take Yuki?" Sasuke screamed. He struck out with chidori, illuminating the dark clearing with blinding blue light. When the light cleared, Madara was gone.

Sasuke swiveled around at the sound of Madara's sibilant voice.

"Well, yes, I did come after Yuki-chan. But it's too late for that; _they've _got their paws on her now. Anyway, you know that chidori won't work against me, either—"

"Why can't you just DIE!" Sasuke shrieked, hurling more lightning at Madara. But Madara dematerialized in a swirl of air, reappearing a moment later just out of Sasuke's range.

"Mmm, what part of eternal mangekyo sharingan do you not understand, Sasuke-_kun_?" Madara mocked. "It's not my fault you shorted out your own eternal mangekyo when you used izangi against me in the last war. Otherwise you, too, could know the perfect agony of eternal life." Madara dematerialized once more as Sasuke activated the rinnegan's repulse-pull attack.

Sasuke stood, panting in the middle of the open field, looking on all sides for the man who had ruined his life once, and was trying to do so again.

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke spun around, but could not find Madara. "Come out, you fucking coward!"

"Listen, idiot, I just want to talk. But if you insist on being difficult, I suppose I could just kill your precious son right now..."

Sasuke blanched. "My son? What…?"

A blue film appeared in the air in front of Sasuke. Before he could react, a projection ran on it, showing Takeo sleeping peacefully in his bed.

"You sick fuck—why do you have a video of my son?"

Madara's disembodied voice laughed at that. "You see, Sasuke-kun, while you were busy running around like a chicken without a head, I spend the past day injecting my chakra into your little baby boy. Usually it takes me a week or so to possess a subject, but since Takeo-chan is such a tiny guy, it didn't take much time at all."

"You—you did _what?_"

"Oh, I'll spell it out for you. But first, mask your chakra? And kill the walkie talkie. I'm getting tired of hearing Sakura-chan's shrieks."

Sasuke's gaze was fixed on the projection of his son as he masked his chakra and turned off his walkie talkie; Sakura's worried cries, which Sasuke hadn't even heard before, were silenced abruptly.

"Very good, Sasuke. Now please, have a seat."

As if transfixed, Sasuke sank down to the ground on his knees. "What...?"

Madara materialized from thin air and let the projection fade, leaving Sasuke blinking in the darkness. Madara began, "You see, my dear Sasuke-kun, after the last war, I subsumed Zetsu's body and have survived as a parasitical host, feeding off the chakra of others. I'm sure your delightful medical researchers have surmised that, at least?"

Sasuke shook his head, too dumbfounded to speak.

Madara snorted. "Well, to make a long story short, I developed a wonderful little jutsu. It allows me to suck out a person's chakra for my own personal enjoyment. And, once they are empty, I inject them with a bit of my own essence, and viola! My own little zombie! I've been forming quite an army—much better than the crappy living dead Kabuto made in the last war."

Sasuke's guts clenched. "You mean, all those people disappearing on the border—?"

"Oh come on, I made it freaking obvious that it was me. I wanted to have you guys in suspense, all 'Oh no, big bad Madara's coming back into town'..." Madara trailed off and sighed. "I'm assuming by your blank expression that Konoha actually didn't figure out that it was me?"

"We had our suspicions," Sasuke snapped.

Madara looked disappointed and crossed his arms over his chest. "You are all dumber than I thought. In any event, I am now able to take on a host's body... I can tell that you haven't the slightest idea what this means. You see, grasshopper, when you used izangi on me all those years ago, you robbed me of most of my human form."

"I—I did?"

"Damn it, has peacetime made you absolutely daft! Did you really have _no_ idea what you were doing when you used izangi?"

Sasuke opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

"Right. As I was saying, when you zapped me, I lost most of my physical form and became almost ghost-like. As you can see, I'm barely able to materialize before you right now; my form wavers like a gods-damned heat mirage." Madara turned in a full circle to illustrate his point; his body fluttered, like a flag in the breeze.

"It is quite disconcerting. Initially, I was able to survive from ingesting Zetsu, but after a while, his chakra and flesh faded and I needed more. I went to feed on plants, animals, and finally, humans. It's a nasty business, but, survival of the fittest you know."

"You make me sick," Sasuke spat.

"Moving right along: I became tired of merely sucking out chakra and making zombies. You have to understand, I'm a man of refined tastes. I really want to have a more substantial form myself. So I began trying out host bodies; unfortunately, most people cannot sustain a wonderful parasite such as myself, due to my unique constitution and chakra requirements. It was then that I remembered our long lost branch family, the Hill Folk as they so quaintly call themselves." Here Madara gestured towards the hills.

"So you _are_ in league with the Hill People!" Sasuke yelled, enraged and fearful all at once.

"Um...no. If you kept your mouth shut, you would sound less stupid. As I was saying, I found the delightful Hill Folk, and started abducting their sharingan users. Unfortunately, their blood is highly diluted at this point; I could only wear a body for a month at most before it would start to decay. And then, much to my dismay, the Hill Folk figured out a way to keep me—and everyone else—out of their territory quite permanently.

"That's when I sent my wonderful zombies after your daughter, hoping to take her body for my own. I figured Yuki's strong constitution would have lasted me for at least a year, if not more."

"You sick fuck! That's my daughter!"

"Well, it is a moot point, she's out of my clutches now. Moving on to my contingency plan—you."

"ME?"

"You have three days to give me your body. If you don't, I'll kill your darling baby boy."

"You're bluffing! You don't have the capabilities—"

Madara gestured, and the projector screen appeared again with the image of Sasuke's sleeping child. "Observe, Sasuke-kun."

Madara gestured, and chakra began flowing out of Takeo's body—and right into Madara.

"Stop! Please, please stop!" Sasuke wailed, his eyes darting wildly between the picture and Madara.

Madara cut off the jutsu. A now ill-looking Takeo mewed pitifully before tossing and turning in his bed.

"You—you bastard!" Sasuke rasped. If he hadn't already been kneeling on the ground, he would have collapsed.

"You have three days, Sasuke. Come to this very spot in three days, give me your body, and I'll spare your son. But of course, you can't tell anyone about our pleasant conversation, and you can't harm your eyes in any way. It _is_ unfortunate that you gave away your mangekyo, but as I have my own, I assure you it is no problem. I _do_ look forward to playing with your new, half sharingan, half rinnegan eyes."

There was a moment of silence as Sasuke stared at the cold ground. "Why—why give me three days?" he whispered.

Madara chortled. "Honestly? I want to watch you squirm. Which will you choose? Will you tell your dumb-ass of a Hokage about our discussion, and thus sacrifice the life of your son? Or will you choose your own death and the assured destruction of Konoha, all to save little Takeo-chan?" Madara chuckled at his, but then his head snapped up and he hissed.

"Oh dear," Madara murmured, "it looks like your little playmates are closing in on us. Remember, Sasuke-kun, I'll be listening and watching from the shadows, so don't do anything rash. It would be such a shame if Takeo became the youngest member of my zombie army. Chow for now!" Madara called as he shimmered, then disappeared in a swirl.

Moments later, Kakashi and Sakura found Sasuke still staring at the ground, shaking, as if trapped in genjutsu.

* * *

><p><em>an So I wrote the rough draft to this fic last year, before edo Madara appeared in the manga. Still, I think my Madara theory holds true, and it is this: I think that Tobi is some revived form of Madara. Maybe he is another ninja with Madara's genetics implanted, or maybe he is something like a Zetsu clone; in short, my theory about Tobi is that he is some ghost-like incarnation of Madara, with less power, but with the same EVIL!_

_For the purposes of this fic, Tobi and Madara are just the same dude. As the manga still stands, I think this theory is still plausible:)_

_Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Please tell me what you think via your kind review;)_


	31. Chapter 31: Regrets

Tralala! Sorry I didn't update last weekend! Hard to believe, I know; I was too busy to publish fanfic T-T.

Anyhoo, I love you all. Please enjoy the next chappy:)

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><p>Chapter Thirty-one: Regrets<p>

_Sing the Song of Aether,_

_Where the air is thin and cold;_

_Where the dancing of the dragonflies_

_Knows nothing of my soul._

_~The First Book of Akash, Verse XVIII_

Saki's graduation went by in a whirl. She hardly even noticed Sasuke and Sakura's absence, who were both out on a mission to find Yuki; Saki was too out of it to really care.

Hoshiko stood next to Saki and spared her a worried look. She nudged Saki in the side.

"Huh?" Saki mumbled, coming to with a start.

"You okay, Saki-chan?"

"Hn." Saki worried her lower lip and looked out at the crowd of parental units. Hinata was there, bravely trying to quiet Sora and Takeo, but other than that, she did not see anyone else of interest. Saki sighed and zoned out again; at some point, she was given a headband.

Saki perked up when her name was called. "Pssssst! Hoshiko—what did I just miss?"

Hoshiko rolled her pale Hyuga eyes. "Idiot, they just announced the _teams._"

Saki gasped, and some of her vibrant personality bubbled back to the surface. "Oh my goodness! Who...?"

Hoshiko smiled. "We're on Team Five together."

Saki blinked. "What? Team Five? But that's my sister's team!" she replied, horrified.

"Not currently," Hoshiko muttered, shaking her head. "Yuki is having her genin status revoked. I heard about it in my father's office this morning."

"WHAT!"

"Quiet!" Hoshiko squeaked as Tsunade shot them a withering glance.

After a moment of stunned silence, Saki ventured, "So, are we on a team with Tadashi-no-asshole then?"**  
><strong>Hoshiko shook her head. "He's having his genin status revoked too—"

"Good!" Saki muttered, "He deserves it!"

"Anyway," Hoshiko whispered, "It's going to be you, me, Hayato, and Cho."

Saki nodded. "A four man cell, huh? Probably because Hayato goes between villages so often..."**  
><strong>"Yup," Hayato whispered behind them. "It's troublesome, but what can you do?" Hayato wasn't sure about being placed on team with three _girls_, but he wasn't going to complain; he knew the terrors Saki's temper could wreck.

Saki gave Hayato a thumbs up, and grew silent again as Iruka glared at them.

Finally, the ceremony was over, and Saki and Hoshiko found the other members of their new team. Cho shuffled over, her eyes rimmed with red, her shoulders hunched.

"Cho-san..." Hoshiko whispered.

"Are you all right?" Saki finished, worried.

Hayato sauntered up to the group but hung back. The girls were obviously about to have a "female" moment, and he was not sure he wanted to get wrapped up in it.

"It's nothing," Cho murmured, bowing politely. "I'm honored to have you all on my...t-team."

Hoshiko frowned in understanding. "It must be hard, Cho-san, having your team rearranged so many times."

Cho smiled sadly but did not answer. Saki sighed, feeling awfully depressed at what should have been one of the happiest moments of her life.

"Cho-san, I know how you feel," Saki managed in a whisper. "But I'm sure Yuki will come back soon. And then she can take her regular place on Team Five—you know, once she wades her way out of all the trouble she's created for herself..."

Cho grinned at that and ruffled Saki's hair. After all, Cho couldn't complain in front of these two. She may have lost two teammates, one permanently and one (hopefully) only temporarily, but these two had lost siblings. "I look forward to training with you!" Cho managed in a gruff voice.

Hinata strode over, her mouth curving in a soft, sad smile, Takeo and Sora running around her ankles. "Congratulations, Hoshiko-chan!" she cried, embracing her daughter. Then she went over to Saki and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Congratulations, Saki-chan! I'm glad you are on the same team with Hoshiko-chan. I know you will fight well."

"Yes m'am!" Saki replied with forced cheer.

"And Hayato-kun!" Hinata cried, drawing the boy near, "Congrats! I'm sorry your parents had to be out on a mission during the graduation..."

Hayato shrugged. "I can't complain. Dad will be happy that Cho-san is on my team, according to tradition and everything."

"Speaking of tradition, here comes your sensei!" Hinata chimed.

Konohamaru sauntered over, a wide smile plastered to his face. "Hey kids! How would you like to go out for barbeque to celebrate?"

His offer instantly lifted the somber atmosphere. Saki smiled, but in a moment, her face fell.

"Eh, Saki-chan, what's wrong?" Hinata asked.

"Konohamaru-sensei..." Saki pleaded, "Before we go, can I ask Tsunade-sama something?"

Konohamaru grinned. "Of course!"

Saki smiled gratefully, and was about to find Tsunade, when she felt a firm hand land on her shoulder.

"What is it that you want, brat? I'm a busy lady," Tsunade muttered, gruff but not unkind.

Saki spun around, startled. Quickly, she came to her senses and asked, "Tsunade-sama! It is tradition in the Uchiha household for academy graduates to get a summons contract. However..."

Tsunade snorted. "However, the cat summons are out of the question right now. What's your point?"

"Please let me sign a contract with the slugs!" Saki cried.

There was a moment of silence while Tsunade pondered. "Why, pray tell, do you want a contract with the slugs?" she asked, her expression masked.

Saki straightened her shoulders and answered, "If we're going to war...and my s-sister..." her voice broke, but she forced herself to continue, "If there's going to be a war, then Konoha is going to need medics. I want to help! Let me sign the slug contract, and if you can find it in your heart, please train me!"

Hoshiko stepped forward, a look of determination on her face. "Train me as well, Tsunade-sama!"

"Me too!" Cho chimed, her eyes fierce.

Tsunade grinned. "Fine. Training starts after lunch. Meet me in the hospital."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama!" the three girls chorused.

Tusnade was about to leave when she saw Hayato's crestfallen expression. "And you, Hayato-kun, you will have special training with Konohamaru-sensei while these three train with me. Your mother tells me your wind element jutsu needs improving. Luckily for you, Konohamaru happens to be an excellent wind wielder."

Hayato's face brightened and he snapped to attention. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade chuckled as she turned away from the children. She was too old for this. But while Sakura otherwise occupied, Tsunade would enjoy teaching her students medical ninjutsu. She would show Sakura just how bad-ass these children could become under Tsunade's brutal, yet effective, tutelage.

* * *

><p>Yuki woke with a sigh. After traveling hard for two days straight, last night's sleep felt especially restful. But as she blinked into the thin morning light, she recalled fragments of a dream about her family, and she cringed.<p>

Perhaps she had been too harsh with her father? After all, Yuki had been destined to leave the village, regardless of Sasuke's actions. Now, her father was going to think she was running away from home like some angsty teen, when instead, she was on an important mission...

Yuki rolled over on her pallet, trying to forget, but Saki's words echoed in her head: _That's it, Yuki! I'm tired of this! High and mighty Yuki, the Uchiha prodigy, so much better than everyone else! Fuck that! Dad's always favoring you and _this_ is how you repay him!_

Did Yuki really come across as being supercilious? Yuki didn't think that she was better than everyone else, and it certainly wasn't her fault if their father paid extra attention to her. After all, Sakura spent way more time with Saki—so they were even.

Yuki turned over on her bed again and stared at the walls of the canvass tent. There was one nagging fact that Yuki couldn't get away from: she was certainly guilty of ignoring her annoying little sister.

_How can you leave? How can you leave ME? _Yuki sighed as the words resounded in her head. Despite her gruff facade, Yuki really did love her baby sister—it's just that Saki was so _annoying!_ And hyperactive, and shrill, and violent...but also sweet, empathetic, and one hell of a kunoichi.

Yuki had never acknowledged her sister as her equal, but during their last battle, Saki had fought on par with Yuki. If it hadn't been for the fact that Yuki had had more practice using the sharingan, and that Yuki had recently acquired the mangekyo, then Yuki might not have won.

"Yuki-chan?" a soft voice called from the doorway.

Yuki could have slapped herself—had she been so wrapped up in her depressing thoughts that she had not sensed anyone approaching? Some ninja she was. Sheepish, she rolled over and faced Aya, who stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the morning light. Yuki rose on stiff joints and bowed.

"Good morning, Aya-sama...er, I mean, Aya-sensei."

Aya nodded with a smile and looked up at her new pupil, who dwarfed her by a few feet. "Hello, Yuki-chan! Good morning! I'd ruffle your hair, but your head is all the way up there. I don't think I can reach."

Yuki blinked, confused by Aya's informality and her strange sense of humor. "Um...okay?"

Aya tittered at that. "You don't have to be so formal here, Yuki-pie. Here, I brought you breakfast!"

Yuki gratefully accepted the plate of eggs and fermented vegetables. As she shoveled the food into her mouth, Aya began, "Well, thought I'd fill you in on the logistics of your life here. One: you won't be seeing any of the other villagers until you decide to undergo your training—"

"Training?" Yuki managed around a mouthful of food.

"Yes, training. You are going to help us take down Uchiha Madara."

Yuki choked on her eggs; Aya patted her back and continued, once Yuki had recovered. "Er...sorry, maybe I should start from the very beginning? Hi, my name is Aya, and I'm training to be the leader of our tribe! I'm twenty-five, I can walk for five miles on my hands, and...let's see...my favorite color is blue!"

Yuki blinked at her companion.

Aya smiled. "Your turn!"

"Ah...my name is Yuki...um..." she trailed off, not certain how to continue.

"Never mind," Aya mumbled. "I guess I'll just...ah...proceed. You've been brought here for your own protection, but there is another reason as well. You are to undergo a special training that will help us to defeat you-know-who. We call him the Slaughter in our village; the elders say it's bad luck to mention his name. I say it's all superstition, but you know, elders..." Aya shrugged and beamed up at her new student.

Yuki nodded, her expression blank. Aya was a little overly friendly. Not that Yuki minded—it just kind of weirded her out.

"Anyway, the training isn't that bad, but as we're a little pressed for time, we're going to have to do it the hard way. Not to worry, I'll be training you, and I'll do my best to make it as painless as possible."

"Thanks." Yuki pushed the food around in her plate, lost in thought. Finally, she replied, "But why me? Why can't _you_ defeat Mada— I mean, the Slaughterer?"

Yuki was referring to Aya, but her sensei took it to mean her whole tribe. "I suppose because we're only the branch family of the Uchiha. Our doujutsu isn't as strong as yours, and that's why we need your help. But also..." Aya cleared her throat before blurting out, "Because the slaughterer is your great uncle."

"He's my what!" Yuki cried, almost dropping her plate in surprise.

"Actually, I think he's more like your great great uncle. Or maybe your great great _great_ uncle, I'm not sure, I'm terrible with math..."

"That's horrible!" Yuki's expression darkened. First, her father had turned out to be an ex-rogue ninja; then, her great great (great?) uncle was Uchiha fucking Madara. Yuki bowed her head, feeling the weight of her ancestry bearing down on her. After a pregnant pause, Yuki banished her anxious thoughts, sat up straight, and squared her shoulders. It was up to her to fix it the mistakes of her family and that was that; getting depressed about it wouldn't help anyone.

"Sorry..." Aya grinned nervously and continued, "I know that must be a shock for you. But the good news is, as you'll learn in training, that makes you all the more qualified to help us kick his butt!" Aya fisted the air.

"Um...great?" Yuki forced a smile and put her empty plate down on the floor. "When does my training start?"

"Today!" Aya beamed. "I mean...well, as soon as you accept the terms of the training."

Yuki chewed the inside of her cheek. "Which are...?"

"Okay, but just so you know, if you _refuse_ to take the training, then the Slaughterer will most likely win and the world will be thrown into the dark ages—or maybe end altogether, I'm not sure."

"Ah—you're not sure?"

"Well, it's kind of like, the future is uncertain...so I like to focus on the positive, you know?"

Yuki closed her eyes. "The world ending doesn't sound very positive."

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean it like that, but you see the world isn't going to end because hopefully you'll agree to the training, and then you'll help us defeat the Slaughterer, right?"

Yuki wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. "What's the training?" she asked point-blank.

Aya's smile didn't falter as she replied, "I'll be taking you into a trance state and teaching you the basics of interdimensional traveling and walking in the spirit world!"

Yuki blinked; for all she understood, Aya could have just as easily said they would be hanging upside down and memorizing algebra equations for the next week. The branch family certainly was strange.

"Um, sounds..._interesting," _Yuki mumbled. "But what are the drawbacks?"

Aya sputtered for a moment. "Right, I was getting to that. You see, for every day of training we do, your physical body will age a year. The training kind of takes a lot out of you..."

"So it'll shorten my life by a few years."

Aya smiled nervously. "Um...I like to think of it as speeding up your maturity. But, in essence, yes."

"How long is the training?"

Aya exhaled sharply; her new pupil did not mince words. "It takes at least two days, usually around three or four, but typically, no longer than five days."

"And if I don't do the training and lose five years of my life...the world as we know it will end." Yuki stared up at Aya and crossed her arms over her chest.

Aya nodded. "Um, pretty much." There was a pause before Aya gushed, "Of course, it's totally up to you! We would _never_ force you to do this work against your will! Never, _never!_ But I think that you'll find that you'll really like it, if you give it a chance."

Yuki sighed. "I just need to know one more thing before I sign up: why did you have Amaya and Tama fight my father and the Hokage? Why couldn't they come here?"

"I'm sorry, I should have gone over this from the beginning," Aya muttered, running a hand through her hair. "You see, traditionally, our village doesn't have a very good relationship with Konoha."

"But Konoha doesn't even know you exist," Yuk replied bluntly.

Aya offered her an awkward smile. "You see, after the Uchiha massacre, the Konoha root hunted down many of the Uchiha who were trying to escape—"

"Like the people who were out of town, or who were on missions," Yuki muttered. "Akemi told me."

"So you can see why the Hill folk are distrustful of Konoha. Also...we have reason to believe that your father, if he came here, would destroy our barrier against the Slaughterer."

"What?"

"How to put it?" Aya muttered, resting her chin in her hands. "Since your father had a long association with the Slaughterer, we have reason to suspect that he might carry a small spark of the Slaughter's chakra. If we let him through the barrier, I'm afraid the barrier would be rendered useless, and the Slaughter could get through as well. It would be disastrous."

Yuki blanched. "My father has some of the Slaughter's chakra? Does that mean...?"

"Listen Yuki," Aya reassured her, "if you do the training and help us defeat the bastard, he won't be able to harm _anyone_ else—your father included. Will you give it a try?"

Yuki closed her eyes. She remembered how Aya had saved her life all those weeks ago; how she had attempted to save Ryuu-kun despite the futility of the situation. "I don't know why I trust you, but...I do. So—"

"You'll do it!"

Yuki winced from Aya's enthusiastic shout. "Yes."

Aya threw her arms around Yuki. "That's great! I was so worried!"

Yuki tensed under the hearty embrace, feeling awkward. She mumbled, "Um, I mean, after coming all this way, I guess...and you know, the end of the world sounds pretty bad so..."

Aya jumped up. "All right! Let's start the preparations!"

Yuki let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding; she felt like a deflating balloon.

_What have I just gotten myself into?_

* * *

><p>Sasuke didn't speak to his teammates when they found him. His silence, his shaking limbs, and his stricken face were proof enough that he had failed, and he was not pressed for details. The Hokage, who had been waiting to receive word from them, was summoned via hiraishin.<p>

Despite Kakashi's nin dogs, Naruto's sage mode, and Sasuke's rinnegan, there was not a trace of Yuki to be found. She had completely disappeared. They searched until dawn drew back the curtain of night, but Sasuke already knew it was futile.

"She's gone to the Hill People," Sasuke said at last. "We can search all we like, but they won't be found unless they want to be." He wanted to add that if Uchiha Madara couldn't break through the barrier, then they were fucked; but of course, he couldn't insinuate anything of the sort.

Sakura protested, but Sasuke waved her off. "Yuki left of her own volition. We did the best we could to bring her back. Now, she's on her own."

"How can you say that, Sasuke?" Sakura barked, her pink hair flying as she accosted him. "She's our daughter—we can't give up on her!"

Naruto put a hand on Sakura's arm to try to calm her, but she shrugged free and yelled, "What did she say to you, Sasuke? What did she...?"

Sasuke sighed. They had all assumed that Sasuke had fought Yuki and lost. He supposed he couldn't dissuade them of that opinion, in light of Madara's threats.

"She's gone. Sakura." He held his hands up in defeat. "Please..." he whispered. _Please don't push me..._

Sakura broke down in sobs and turned away from Sasuke, falling into Naruto's outstretched arms instead. Naruto looked up at Sasuke and muttered, "What the hell happened here, Sasuke?"

Sasuke felt violently ill. Turning away, he snapped, "Don't ask." Sasuke stalked away, even as Naruto shouted for him to return. He needed to be alone.

* * *

><p>When her parents finally returned on the third day after Yuki's disappearance, Saki had been standing in the kitchen holding her baby brother in her arms. She had run into the entrance way, calling, "Yuki! Is that you? Mom? Dad...? Where's Yuki?" As she searched their somber faces, her tentative hope dissolved into tears. She was scooped up by her mother, who embraced her two youngest children and sobbed.<p>

"I'm so sorry, Saki-chan..." Sakura rasped through her tears.

Saki shouted, "What the hell happened, mom?"

Sakura refrained from answering, and instead shot a pointed glare at her husband. Sasuke stiffened under her scrutiny. "I'm going out," he mumbled, backing away.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, catching his gaze with hers; but when she looked into his eyes, it was like looking into the face of a dead man. They stayed, silently staring at each other, until Sakura muttered in disgust, "Just go, then." She buried her face on the top of Saki's head, her wet tears staining her daughter's hair.

Sasuke seemed to exit in slow motion, the door clicking shut behind him. Saki extracted herself from her mother's suffocating hug and made her way to the door as well.

"Saki, leave your father be," Sakura snapped.

"He knows what happened, doesn't he? And he's not telling anyone?" Saki spun around and speared her mother with a glare. Sakura, holding a sniffling Takeo in her arms, mutely nodded. Saki strode back to her mother, and kissed her forehead. "Where's Yuki, okaasan?"

Sakura took in a shuddering breath before whispering, sotto voce, "I don't know. Sasuke...Sasuke said she went to the Hill People."

"Who the hell are they?"

"No one knows."

Saki took a step back and placed her hands on her hips. "Not even, like, the ANBU, or the Hokage?"

Sakura just shook her head no and continued to weep into her hands.

Saki ran a hand through her hair. Usually, when Saki's parents stonewalled each other, Saki would calm Sakura down while Yuki convinced Sasuke to come back home. But now, Yuki was gone. Saki's lower lip quivered, but soon, she squared her shoulders and looked Sakura straight in the eye; she knew how she could fix this.

"Mom, I'm going to go talk to dad. He needs to hear something from me."

Sakura nodded, too tired to argue. "Do as you please. I'm taking a shower and going to bed."

"Okay..." Saki danced on her toes a little, as if conflicted about leaving her mother to go to her father. At last, she flung her arms around her mother in a tight embrace, and then ran out the door in order to catch up with Sasuke.

She hadn't needed to run; Sasuke was not moving very fast.

"Otousan!" Saki called as she jogged up to her father. Sasuke didn't answer, so Saki sided up next to him, matching her pace to his. They walked in silence for a while, and eventually wound their way to the empty park. Sasuke sat on a bench and Saki perched on the lowered end of a see-saw, facing him.

"Otousan?" Sasuke looked up at her, startled, as if he had just realized that she was present. His eyes were cloudy, as if he was blind, which worried Saki.

"Otousan," Saki resumed, "I want to tell you something." He did not protest, so she continued, "When I was fighting Yuki, that night... Well, we fought with genjutsu, and I _saw_ into her mind. I'd never done that before, but I guess the sharingan helps..."

Saki trailed off nervously, but took a deep breath and forced herself to continue, "Anyway, Yuki didn't leave because of you, otousan. I'm not sure why, but she felt like she needed to leave the village. I don't understand it, but I trust her." At this, Saki smiled, even though her eyes were watering. She stood up until she was face to face with her father. "I trust her because I believe in her! Otousan?"

Sasuke blinked; Saki took this as a good sign and blurted out, "Yuki _doesn't_ hate you—I _know_ she doesn't. And I love you too, otousan!" With determination, Saki threw her arms around her father's neck. "I know you did what you thought was right, giving Yuki that jutsu, whatever it was, and I'm sure Yuki will come to appreciate it. And I know you did the best you could, trying to rescue Yuki, but she's stubborn, and she won't come back until she does whatever it is she thinks she needs to do..." Saki, exhausted from her outburst, drooped down on her father's shoulders.

Sasuke drew in a long, jagged breath, then placed his hands on Saki's shoulders. "I don't know what I did to deserve such wonderful children," he murmured.

Saki swatted him playfully on the arm. "Stop being so depressing. You're a _great_ dad. For someone with brand-new, all-powerful eyes, you sure are blind!"

Sasuke hugged Saki and gave a short, painful laugh. "When did you get to be so smart?"

"Daaaaaad, I've always been this smart!" She pried herself out of his tight hug and sat next to him on the bench, leaning her head on his shoulder. She had so many questions she wanted to ask, but she felt it prudent to say nothing at all, given his current state. Saki closed her eyes and exhaled sharply. _I have to take my own advice and just believe in my sister! _

They sat in silence for a while, both lost in thought, until Sasuke finally shook himself out of his trance. "Let's go home, Saki-chan. I have to apologize to your mother."

Saki eyed him askance. "What did you do?"

"What _didn't_ I do?" he muttered, morose.

"Otousan!" Saki rolled her eyes. "Come on old man," Saki chided when Sasuke didn't move, "let's go!" She took his hand and led him back to their house, sparing an occasional glance up at her father's face as they walked. Saki bit her lip; she had done the best she could, but damn it, otousan still looked like the walking dead.

Some things, you just can't fix, no matter how much you want to, Saki thought glumly.

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><p><em>Hope you liked it! Have a great weekend my friends, and please review:) <em>


	32. Chapter 32: Aether

A/n First off, a huge thanks to my two betas, **Uchiha.s** and **Twinkletoast.** Yep, I was feeling really insecure about life and had this chappy looked over twice. Seriously, these two writers are amazing—each had something different and essential to add. Like two different, delicious spices in a stew… *starts to get hungry* Lol:) Thanks for being there for me wonderful ladies; your edits and your encouragement mean the world to me:)

Thanks also to all my wonderful reviewers. I think I treasure my reviews to SoA more than any other fic. Thanks for sticking with me friends.

I have a lot going on in my life, but I hope to maintain an update-every-two-weeks schedule. I love this story, and I love sharing it with you:) I encourage all my readers who have been quiet to drop me a line; please, let me know how you like this chapter.

One of the things I like about this fic is that it has taught me a wealth of information about writing. Please, share your thoughts with me so I can continue to improve. Thanks!

And now, without further ado…

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><p>Chapter Thirty-Two: <strong>Aether<strong>

_Song of the Aether,_

_Where the sea shapes the horizon gray;_

_And all the thoughts of yesteryear_

_Poisons the movement of the day._

~The First Book of Akash, Verse IXX

Yuki bit her lip. The village was alive with hundreds of tribe members, scurrying to get ready for the big ritual, and Yuki felt completely unprepared and out of place from her seat of honor. This was _definitely_ beyond the pale of her experience.

In an effort to quell her anxious thoughts, she studied the people flowing around her. Some bore a remarkable resemblance to the Uchiha, with long dark hair, high cheek bones, and dark velvet eyes. Others differed greatly in appearance. There was everything from blonde-hair-and-blue-eyes, to giant men with white hair and prominent bones, to women with green mossy hair—and where these women should have had feet, Yuki was pretty sure they had _hooves._

Aya had explained that the village housed not just Uchiha refugees, but also disparate ninja who had defected from their native villages in order to escape war, violence, or persecution. It was _quite_ the motley crew, in Yuki's opinion.

Just as some women with flaming orange hair and strange fiery tattoos were stoking the bonfire, Akemi-baachan led some wizened-looking old folks over to Yuki's chair of honor. Yuki rose and bowed low. She assumed that these were the famous elders she had heard so much about from Aya.

The first elder, a woman with ankle length white hair, speared her with a heavy glare; Yuki gulped.

"Young woman, are you sure you are prepared to undergo the trials of the mind?"

Yuki had not the faintest idea what 'trials of the mind' really meant, so instead she meekly replied, "I am ready to undergo the training so that I can defend my people."

The old woman's wrinkles twitched, but then the woman bowed her head toward Yuki in approval. Next to her, an old man with a deeply lined face displayed a gap-toothed smile.

"You'll do just fine, sweetheart," he warbled, "I saw it with my own eyes! If anyone can kick the Slaughterer's ass—"

"Language!" the old woman barked as she rapped him on the head with her cane.

"Mother!" the old man whined, "It's true! I saw it in a vision—this girl is the key to kicking some serious...butt!" At that last, more tasteful word, the old woman lowered her cane, but continued to glower at her compatriot.

Akemi laughed. "Yuki-chan, these are my friends. We call them the Mother and the Father, though they are not related—they are the elders of the tribe."

Yuki bowed again politely. "It is very nice to meet you."

The Mother's face turned sour, and she brandished her cane at Yuki. "Don't screw up now, girl!" she snapped.

Yuki paled. "Yes'm!" she cried as she saluted the old woman.

The Father's brow creased in consternation. "Mother, didn't I tell you? In my vision, the girl did just fine. Why do you have to browbeat her?"

The crotchety elder whapped the Father on the head with her cane, retorting, "I'll show you browbeating! That's what you get for bossing the Mother around!"

The old man sighed. "Forgive me, Mother," he sighed; though when the Mother turned away, he winked at Yuki. She had a hard time holding in her laughter.

Suddenly, a group of men with strange, ray-like markings on their foreheads started beating drums. The elders melted back into the crowd, and rest of the villagers formed a large circle around Yuki. She felt anxious until Aya strode forward and stood beside her.

Yuki admired Aya's ceremonial outfit: white linen draped in such a way over that it made her look like an angel. All kinds of strange mountain flowers studded her curly hair, and in the center of her forehead a purple crystal was fused into her flesh, much like the jewelry Akemi had given Yuki when they had first started their journey.

But Yuki had no more time for idle contemplation, for Aya handed her a gourd full of gooey liquid. Yuki blinked, slowly. This liquid did not smell or look edible. At all. She looked back up at Aya, who insinuated with the nod of her head that Yuki should drink up. She took a deep breath and proceeded to chug. The villagers nodded approvingly, but Yuki's stomach gurgled in protest. Feeling nauseated, Yuki shakily handed the empty gourd back to Aya, who gave her a compassionate glance before holding out the bowl to her attendant. Yuki clenched her teeth as the attendant filled the bowl once more, thinking it was destined once again for Yuki's poor stomach. Much to her relief, Aya drank the second portion.

Aya clapped, and two heavy-set ninja stepped forward. They wove a few hand-signs, and walls sprung out of the earth, encasing Aya and Yuki in a dark room. In a moment, Aya formed a katon, and fire sprang up in her hands; she focused the flame over an oil lamp, which cast the small, cave-like enclosure into low relief. Aya smiled reassuringly at her pupil, and wordlessly motioned for Yuki to lay down on a thin blanket on the ground. Yuki gulped and did so. As she had been instructed earlier, she looked into Aya's eyes.

Even though she had been prepared about the details of the ceremony beforehand, Yuki still caught herself gasping when Aya's irises whorled to reveal the mangekyo sharingan. And then—

Yuki fell into the darkness.

* * *

><p>Damn it all!<p>

One day had already passed. That meant that there were only _two fucking days_ until his rendezvous with Uchiha Madara.

And Sasuke still had absolutely no plan whatsoever.

_Damn. Damn. Damn._

Worst of all, Sakura was not talking to him and had made him sleep on the floor last night. This would all have been a lot easier if he had had someone to talk to—besides Madara's ghost, who popped in to verbally assault him when he was alone. Sasuke was sure that whatever hellhole Madara was lurking in now, he was laughing his sadistic head off.

In the other room, Takeo cried. Sasuke crept over to his crib. "Hey. Up from your nap?"

Takeo only wailed in response. Sasuke sighed heavily. Takeo had been inconsolable since Sasuke's return, and only Sasuke knew that it was because of Madara. Biting his lip, Sasuke activated his ocular jutsu and took a long, good look at the boy's chakra system.

Just as Madara had said, there was a black cloud hanging over Takeo's energy system. Thankfully, it hadn't gotten worse over the past twenty-four hours—but then again, it hadn't gotten any better, either.

Sasuke rocked Takeo to and fro and continued worrying his lip until it bled. Sasuke cursed himself; his child was in danger, and he couldn't help him at all. In a fit of despair, Sasuke flicked the mobile hanging over the baby's crib, making it spin.

He blinked at it.

_I can't do anything obvious or Madara might catch me—but maybe, just maybe, I can leave a clue…_

Sasuke bounced Takeo on his hip. "Come on, Takeo-chan," he whispered, "it's art project time."

Sasuke broke out all the tempera paint and paper mache supplies he could find. An hour later, both he and Takeo were covered head-to-toe in paint, and in the middle of the table stood the ugliest mobile ever made in the history of the Hidden Leaf. On each tile, Sasuke had drawn the letters of the alphabet; except that the letters "K", "A", "R", "I", and "N" were the only letters drawn in red, while the rest were painted green.

Takeo, who had calmed down, began crying again. A menacing voice spoke over the child's wail:

"I didn't know you were an artist, Sasuke-chan."

Sasuke's head whipped up at that. "Madara? Can I enjoy my last days with my family in peace, without your gods-forsaken ghost breaking and entering into my living room?"

Madara merely shrugged.

"I'll have you know," Sasuke snapped, "that art helps me deal with stress. Now _go away_."

Madara's ghost waved cheerfully before disappearing in a swirl.

Sasuke heaved a sigh of relief as Madara left. Thank the gods that Madara had not noticed the hidden message in the mobile; right now, it was his only hope.

Sasuke picked Takeo up from the floor and rocked the hysterical baby, but he could not get Takeo to stop crying. Sasuke bit back a curse. Was it not enough that Madara was making his life a living hell? He had to stalk Sasuke, too? All last night, just as Sasuke was drifting off to sleep on the hard floor, Madara's ghost had popped in and asked him if he had made up his mind yet. Sasuke supposed that sleep deprivation was one of the asshole's tactics. Well, it wasn't going to work, because now, Sasuke had a mobile!

Sasuke looked at his creation in pride for a moment, and then, his face fell.

_Gods damn it. He's a ghost who commands a powerful army of zombies, and all I have to fight the fucker is a mobile. Fuck._

Sasuke hung the hideous mobile over Takeo's crib and tried, desperately, to think of another plan.

* * *

><p>"Where...where am I?" Yuki asked. They were high up on a mountain, overlooking the undulating hills. The light was bright, though Yuki couldn't see the sun. She turned around to see Aya standing behind her. "Oh. You're here..."<p>

Aya smiled brightly. "Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?"

"Um..."

"Right. Let's start at the beginning!" Aya chimed. Yuki winced; Aya, as she had proven earlier, was terrible at starting from the beginning. Aya noticed Yuki's expression and smiled sheepishly.

"Anyway," Aya explained, "we're approximately half a dimension out of normal reality." Aya paused, noticing her pupil's confusion. "Um...in other words, our bodies are still in ordinary reality, but our consciousness is removed. We're in the space you commonly enter when you dream."

Yuki nodded, following Aya now. "So Aya-sensei, are we dreaming?"

"In a sense, we are. But instead of sleeping, we're 'dreaming' consciously. Any more questions before we go on?"

"Why do you have the mangekyo sharingan—did you murder your best friend?" Yuki blurted out.

Aya blanched. "Heavens no! I would never...oh, but I see, you must be thinking of your father's mangekyo—"

"Actually, it's _my _mangekyo, now."

Aya shook her head. "Yes, Akemi told me about that. First, let me explain: the branch family has a method of awakening the sharingan _without_ committing murder, but the mangekyo we have is mostly a defensive variation, whereas the one the main family developed is mostly used for offense. When an Uchiha undergoes the kind of special training that we're doing right now, they can acquire the defensive mangekyo."

Yuki nodded thoughtfully. "How does that work?"

"Patience, grasshopper!" Aya laughed. "You'll find out in time. Right now, I need to ask your spirits if we need to remove your current mangekyo. May I?"

"Um...sure...I guess..." Yuki blinked anxiously as Aya strode forward and placed a hand on her forehead. Everything went dark for a moment. But just as suddenly as the darkness descended, it disappeared, and Yuki found herself standing on the bright mountainside once more. Aya was frowning down at her.

"Seems like you're meant to have it," Aya said at last, her eyes clouded in confusion.

"Couldn't you just—take it out of my eyes now?" Yuki pleaded.

Aya shook her head no. "For whatever reason, your guardian spirits want you to have it, at least for now. Trust me on this one. You can ask them yourself, later."

Yuki's eyes widened at that. "I have spirits that watch over me—and I can _talk_ to them?"

Aya sighed. "Really, what _do _they teach you in the Hidden Leaf? All right, grasshopper, it's time for your first lesson. Right now, we're at the doorway to the higher worlds, but we can't proceed on our journey until you clear yourself of burdens from your current life."

"My current life?"

"Yes, as opposed to one of your past lives."

"_Past_ lives?"

Aya blinked up at her pupil. "Yes. Past lives. But right now we're going to focus on set-backs in your current life."

Yuki closed her eyes. Guardian spirits and past lives were not subjects that they had covered at the ninja academy. Perhaps that was the kind of thing one picked up at temple? But Yuki's family— and practically every ninja she knew— were not particularly religious. The only times she went to the temple was for births, weddings, funerals, and the occasional New Year's visit to the shrines. After a pregnant pause, Yuki opened her eyes again. "All right. Current life set-backs. What do I do?"

Aya smiled encouragingly. "Listen carefully. When the lesson starts, I'm going to leave. That's just to respect your privacy. If you need help at _any_ point, you can call me and I'll come right back."

"Okay. But...what's going to _happen?_"

"Don't know. It's different for everyone. Don't worry, I'll be here to help you whenever you need me. Ready?"

Yuki took a deep breath. "Er...ready as I'll ever be?"

Aya's laughter echoed on the mountainside. "You'll be just fine. I believe in you!" And with that, Aya's form dematerialized, and the light shifted.

Yuki found herself in a field lowly illuminated by moonlight, though the moon was not in sight. Overhead, stars shone more vibrantly than any star seen from earth, and in front of her—

"Otousan..." Yuki whispered, her body going cold.

Sasuke appeared as Yuki had known him when she was younger. His eyes were covered in a flowing white scarf, the silk one stitched with ravens. He gestured for her to come closer, which she did, albeit with faltering footsteps.

Sasuke pointed towards the sky. "Yuki-san, what do you see?"

Yuki looked up and whispered, "I see a field of stars, otousan, shining like tiny beads of silver."

"Yuki-san, do you remember what I told you about starlight?" Sasuke asked gently.

In a shaky voice, she replied, as if by rote, "The light of the stars reaches us long after the star is gone; the stars I see tonight have all died thousands of years ago. Why are you asking me this, otousan? Are you really here, otousan?" she asked in a small voice.

Sasuke merely smiled and replied, "When I die, I'll become a star in the sky, and even though I'll be gone, my light will always reach you..."

As he spoke, Sasuke's body sank into the earth. As if transfixed, Yuki lit a stick of incense, and the smoke rose upwards through the moonlight in thick, silver drifts. But instead of dissipating, the smoke curled and gathered in the silver light before shooting up into the air, and a single star was born in the night sky. Yuki looked up at the phenomenon in horror. "Otousan!" she cried, "Otousan, don't leave me!"

She felt herself floating, as if the sky were made of water and she was bobbing up towards the surface, punctuated with stars instead of fish; the air was cool on her face, and as she approached the firmament, the stars grew in brilliance and size.

"Otousan!" she screamed into the star-studded abyss, "Why? Why did you do those horrible things, back before I was born? How—how could you?"

Without warning, the world dissolved around her. She was left in darkness which was so crushing, she could not even cry out. It seemed as though she was floating through the dark void forever before finally, she felt the air compress—

There was the sound like glass shattering, and an explosion of light which blinded Yuki as she fell through the sky. When her vision finally cleared, she saw snakes of light with giant wings, streaking across the sky like meteors. The serpents converged in a circle, biting each other's tails until they were a giant, writhing mass of scales and feathers.

Their wings faded into the air and formed the sky, while their bodies dissolved into water. From the water rose volcanoes, spewing fire. The fire hit the water with a hiss, and steam blanketed the earth; when the steam cleared, it revealed newly formed land.

All around the nascent planet, a pair of hands and a pair of eyes materialized. One eye became the sun, and the other became the moon, while the hands shaped the surface of the stratosphere. All this Yuki observed as if she had the consciousness and the vantage point of a far-away star.

Yuki slowly floated down to the surface of this new planet, and there she saw all manner of strange creatures, fish with legs and giant birds with leathery wings. Time blurred: animals and plants were born and died and disintegrated before being reborn again, until finally, humans emerged. From their appearances, she recognized their clans: Hyuga, Inuzaka, Yamanaka, even a few whom she suspected were Haruno. _My ancestors, _Yuki thought with trepidation_._ She searched for those with Uchiha characteristics but found none.

With that thought, her surroundings blurred once more. She felt herself rushing through space until she landed with a thud in a dark laboratory. There was a man in a white coat, filling a syringe with red liquid and injecting it into a shinobi strapped to the table. From the subject's white, pupiless eyes, Yuki could tell that he was from the Hyuga clan.

The man bore the needle without fear; it seemed like he welcomed the injection, whatever it was. There were other Hyuga in the room, at least a hundred subjects or more, all strapped to tables with cruel restraints. The experimenter executed a number of extremely complicated hand-signs, and Yuki thought that, even with her sharingan, she could not hope to copy the jutsu.

There was a flash of chakra, and the sound of groans filled the air. When the light cleared, the man who had been strapped to the table blinked his eyes, which had gone from white to jet black—and then to three black commas swirling on a field of red. Yuki paled as she realized that she was witnessing the creation of the Uchiha. _My ancestors were Hyuga science experiments? I can't believe Tadashi was right... _

She had no time for indignation or fear; the scene shifted again. She was on an endless green plain, and saw the Uchiha warriors striking down their opponents with the grace of predatory cats. Their leader was a tall man with long, black hair, and when Yuki saw his eyes, she saw a swirling mangekyo sharingan. The sight of him made her shiver. _That that must be Madara..._

The fighting continued, and the Uchiha killed many who fought against them. But there was one tribe who stood on equal ground with the Uchiha, and when those two fought, an equal number of both the Uchiha and the fair-haired tribe remained dead on the battleground. Blood saturated the earth; it seeped into the creeks and rivers until it seemed that they, too, ran red. Finally, there was a truce between the two clans, and out of the blood, a village was born: Konoha.

Time pressed on quickly. Yuki hovered above the Uchiha district and looked down, gasping as she spied her father as a small child. For the first time, she saw her uncle Itachi. Yuki could tell from the way Sasuke and Itachi spoke to each other that they loved each other; it reminded Yuki of herself and her own sister, a little. She smiled at that.

But time sped forward again, and Yuki saw dark clouds gathering over the village, and cracks forming in the wall of the Uchiha compound. Madara flitted through the shadows, scurrying along the cracks like a spider come to spin its web; from the shadows came the Kyubi shining with red light, snapping up Senju ninja in its jaws. The Uchiha were nowhere to be found, except for Itachi, Sasuke, and the other children of the district, gaping up at the monster in horror and foreboding.

Time pressed on and blurred around the edges of Yuki's sight. When her vision resolved, she watched her father, as a young boy, come home on that fateful night to find Uchiha blood running like rivers over the cold cobblestone streets; the moon's reflection was rutilant in the warm pools. As Sasuke ran after Itachi through those drenched streets, his feet slipping in blood, his eyes whirled cadmium and crimson. Above his head, silver smoke curled before vaulting up into the heavens, forming new constellations. When dawn came, Sasuke was left alone, unconscious on the cold stones.

Time continued to pass, and Yuki saw Sasuke's life flash by like stills from a movie, sometimes flickering like a projection, sometimes appearing more vivid than real life. It was like dreaming, but the plot line came out of the aether—as if the thin air was singing and the sound became images. She saw Sasuke leave the village to go on a journey through darkness. He was like a black hole, trying, in his misery, to suck everything in to himself, into oblivion, until...

She briefly saw the faces of her mother and of the Hokage, but then the vision faded, and she was back in the moonlit field with her father. Sasuke was smiling sadly, and from under his blindfold, bloody tears ran down his cheeks.

"Otousan...?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I don't expect you to ever forgive me, when I can't even forgive myself. I just hope that you can understand."

Yuki sighed. "Otousan, I understand—and I'll try to forgive you..."

It began raining, though there were no clouds. It washed away the blood from Sasuke's face, which now shone like wet silver in the moonlight. Yuki whispered, "I'm sorry, otousan. Saki was right; you've always been a good father." Yuki blinked up at her father through her tears. "I love you, otousan—please, don't turn into a star just yet!" she cried.

He laughed, ruefully. It seemed as if the rain was falling harder, even though the sky was still clear. Yuki could see the stars falling as if they, too, were raining down, and all around her the stars were streaking the sky silver and gray and black, and everything dissolved around her into moonlight and starlight and—

Yuki blinked. Just as suddenly as the vision began, it stopped, and she was back on the mountain with Aya.

"Looks like you learned your first lesson. How'd it go?" Aya asked, trying to mask the excitement in her voice.

"Um...good..." Yuki mumbled, still reeling from the experience. She scratched the back of her head and looked up at her sensei expectantly.

"Well done, Yuki-chan. Off we go to the next dimension. Hold on!"

Before Yuki could protest, Aya took Yuki's hand, and the world lurched around them in shades of brilliant green and blue.

* * *

><p>Sasuke woke with a start. It was mid afternoon and Takeo was just stirring from his nap. Damn—more time wasted. He only had two more days left, and he still didn't have a plan. This was no time to fall asleep!<p>

With a sense of urgency, Sasuke opened his bleary eyes, and for an instant, he recalled something from his dream: stars had swirled on the edges of his sight, and Yuki had called after him, before he had disappeared in the starry heavens...

What a strange dream. In light of Madara's newest threats against Takeo, Sasuke had almost forgotten about Yuki; his dream, however, proved that he was just as distraught as ever about her disappearance. Just as a full moon robs the light from the stars, the threat of Madara had temporarily banished his grief over Yuki to a dusty corner of his subconscious.

Takeo began crying and Sasuke hastily rocked the child, though Takeo only sobbed harder. Sasuke sighed. It was because he had given up on searching for Yuki that Sakura had been giving him the silent treatment. When she looked at him, cold hatred stared back at him from the depths of her green eyes.

Sasuke didn't blame her. He had withdrawn into himself completely after his meeting with Madara, for he bore a burden that Sakura— no, that _no one_—could help him bear. He was alone. Either he offered his own flesh to Madara, or Madara would eat the flesh of his only son. Sakura couldn't help him, and Sasuke was glad that his current behavior repulsed her to the point of hatred—because if Sakura hated him, it would be easier for her to use the death seal on him.

Sasuke was grateful that the seal was branded into his skin just above his heart. Sakura could kill him instantly. He must work, as hard as he could, to make her hate him over these next few days. If Madara got ahold of his body, then Sasuke would have to die. His spirit would finally find its final torment; Itachi would open the black gates to hell, and colorful devils would gouge out Sasuke's eyes for all eternity. It was what he deserved.

Takeo continued to wail, and Sasuke could offer him no comfort. Either way, Sasuke was bound to betray this small life. If he warned the Hokage of Madara's plan, his precious son—the only part of Sasuke that was unsullied by his mistakes—would become Madara's plaything. Could Sasuke condemn his son to that? But if Sasuke instead offered himself to Madara to save Takeo, then Sasuke's body would be used to wage war on Konoha, and who knew how many more would die?

"What would you have done, Itachi?" Sasuke whispered, his breath moving the fine hairs on Takeo's head.

"Talking to yourself, Sasuke-kun? That's a sure sign of insanity," Madara offered blithely as he materialized from thin air.

Startled, Sasuke jumped up, holding Takeo protectively in his arms. He glared at Madara and snarled. In a deft leap, Sasuke jumped out of the second story window and hit the ground running, heading towards Naruto's house. His child wailed pitifully in the wind from the shelter of Sasuke's arms.

Madara just chuckled from Takeo's bedroom window before he disappeared back into the aether, from whence he came.

* * *

><p><em>an I worked so unbelievably hard on this chapter; please review my friends and tell me what you think! ;D_


	33. Chapter 33: Clouds Gathering

a/n Sorry for the long wait; I've been busy as all get-out. Special thanks to **Uchiha.s,** the best beta a girl could ask for, and thanks to all my magical readers and reviewers:) You guys make my life better, no kidding.

* * *

><p>Chapter Thirty-Three: Clouds Gathering<p>

_Song of the aether,_

_Where my heart feels small and old;_

_And every night we clutch at each other_

_For comfort that has grown cold._

_~Book of Akash, Verse XX_

A new world materialized around Yuki. She and Aya stood on one of the volcanic mountains surrounding Konoha. Though the peaks were nowhere near the height and majesty of the Akash range, Yuki's breath caught in her throat all the same—she was home.

But as she gazed on Konoha, she noticed that it was not the same. "Aya, why are Tsunade and Naruto's faces are gone from the Hokage monument?"

Aya smiled kindly. "It's time for you to explore something from your past life." Aya paused, and Yuki gazed once more at the monument, the likenesses of the three hokages no larger than the three small coins from their far-off vantage point. "Again, I won't be there with you, but you can call me at any time if you need help..."

Yuki nodded. "I'm not afraid. I'm ready."

Aya simply nodded in return

The world around Yuki shimmered like a heat mirage, and suddenly, she found herself in a different body—instead of her long, toned limbs, her legs and arms were short, and pale. _What...?_

"Oi, Mukudori-chan, hurry up! Your horrible cousin is going to kill us if we're late to practice again!"

Yuki felt her legs moving of their own volition. Her lips moved, unbidden, in a snappy retort, "Tch, Kaito. I'm only running late because you _insisted_ on helping that old lady with her packages."

Yuki gazed out at Kaito through strange eyes: he had bright red hair, and blue green eyes that sparkled in the morning light. She noted from his appearance that he must have been the child of Whirlpool refuges. The boy, probably no older than nine from the looks of him, rolled his eyes at her as he kept up his brisk jog.

"I'm sorry," Kaito called, "I forgot that the _Uchiha _are heartless bastards who don't care about anything but punctuality and advancing in the ranks."

"Kaito," she replied in a warning tone, "watch it. I may not have my sharingan yet, but I'll still kick your ass."

The boy merely stuck his tongue out at her and continued running. Soon, they reached a training field, where a tall dark-haired boy was meditating quietly on a rock.

"Itachi-sama," Yuki's mouth offered of its own volition, "please excuse our tardiness."

His eyes opened slowly, revealing three comas spinning lazily on a field of red. "No need to apologize. Let us begin training. The chunin exam is only a few months away—and I will pass."

Kaito snorted and threw a kunai at Itachi's head; the two started sparring, but Yuki's consciousness was reeling inside this strange body. If she was an Uchiha in this life, and her teammate was Itachi—then she had a sinking suspicion that this would not end well...

* * *

><p>Sakura stared out of Naruto's office, up towards the beaming facades on the Hokage monument. A murder of crows flew past, and Sakura had a passing thought that it would be a wonderful thing to be a bird: to fly up, over the village, and view the buildings and people as no more than ants and ant hills...<p>

"Sakura...?" Naruto began, but he trailed off in uncertainty. Sakura sighed and slowly walked back to Naruto's desk, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor.

"I'm sorry," Naruto whispered at last, staring down at his hands. "I still have a dozen squads of ANBU out there—but—"

"But they still haven't found anything." Sakura slammed her fist down on Naruto's desk, and for a moment, Naruto was reminded of Tsunade's fits of anger. Naruto placed a hand on his trembling teammate's back.

"Sakura," Naruto began hesitatingly, "has Sasuke...?"

"He hasn't told me shit anything," Sakura cried. "I—I don't know what to think! What the fuck is he holding back? Why won't he tell us anything? I swear, I'm so angry at him, I could just kill him."

She slammed another fist down on Naruto's desk, causing the wood to splinter slightly under the impact; Naruto put his hands on Saukra's shoulders.

"Sakura," he commanded, "get ahold of yourself."

"I'm sorry…" Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and drew a shaky breath.**  
><strong>"I'm sure Sasuke is just as upset as you are over losing Yuki," the Hokage murmured gravely, "And whatever happened, I'm sure Sasuke did the best he could..."

Sakura pushed his hands away and sat down heavily in a padded chair.

"I know," she muttered. "You're right. I'm just..."

Sakura sighed and covered her face with her hands. Damn it all, she was so _angry._ Beyond angry, really. Her eldest daughter had become a rogue ninja, and even though Sakura knew it was unfair to think it, she felt like it was Sasuke's _fault._

Maybe it was irrational—but maybe not. A string of images in her mind's eye wouldn't stop haunting her: how Saki had been found on the bench by the village gates in an eerie echo of how Sasuke himself had left Sakura, so long ago; how Sakura imagined Yuki's whirling mangekyo sharingan, a jutsu that had been so irresponsibly given to her by Sasuke; and lastly, as a final insult, Yuki had run away from the village, just like her father had before her.

When Temari had come back from her failure of a mission to retrieve Yuki, she had told Sakura what Yuki had said to her:

_Temari had sighed vehemently and muttered, "I'm so sorry, Sakura. I told Yuki to stop—that ten was too young to become a rogue ninja. I told her to turn back or end up on Konoha's most wanted list..."_

"_What did she say to that, Temari-san?" Sakura asked softly, stifling her tears._

_Temari sighed again. "Yuki told me, 'That's true; my father was about thirteen when he became rogue—looks like I'll beat his record.'" Temari looked up and met Sakura's gaze unflinchingly. "I'm sorry, Sakura-san. It looks like Yuki was dead-set on running away..."_

Sakura winced from the memory. She was thankful that Temari had been so candid with her, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel resentful towards her husband.

What kind of shit example was Sasuke for a father? What had he done to their eldest daughter? Some part of Sakura— the rational, adult part of her— told her that she was being unreasonable. But the little girl inside Sakura, the little girl who had been left on a cold stone bench while the love of her life ran out of the village and into the arms of darkness—that part of Sakura was not in a reasonable or forgiving mood.

"Sakura?"

Sakura finally looked up from her hands and into Naruto's sad blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "I'm just upset."

"Instead of fighting against each other," he murmured, walking over to Sakura and placing a soothing hand on her arm, "you and Sasuke should be supporting each other. Sasuke isn't doing very well, either—"

"I can't—I'm needing space from Sasuke right now," she muttered, turning away from Naruto.

Naruto exhaled sharply. This had always been the downfall to Sakura and Sasuke's relationship, in his opinion. When things got tough, Sakura withdrew from Sasuke in fear, while Sasuke sunk into himself in depression. Naruto didn't consider himself an expert on life, but when times got hard, that was the minute when Naruto opened up to his friends. It was this openness that was his saving grace.

Naruto thought sadly that when Ryuu had passed... It was then that his relationship with Hinata had become even stronger. Through their unshakable bond, they worked through the grief together. And even when they were apart, they were both alone but secure in the knowledge that the other had unshakable faith and love for the other.

But here, in front of him, he could see Sakura and Sasuke falling apart at the seams, and he felt helpless to stop it.

"Please let me know if there is anything I can do..." Naruto whispered. In the face of Naruto's quiet kindness, Sakura broke down in tears.

"Naruto, I'm so sorry—I'm acting like a spoiled brat. Here my child is simply missing, and I'm completely broken, whereas you—"

_Whereas you lost your child completely, and yet you still manage to shine like the sun and smile like the new moon... _Sakura thought bitterly, turning away from Naruto to hide her tears.

"Sakura, please. Don't do that..." Naruto felt tears welling up in his own eyes, sorrow over his own son compounded by the daughter he could not find.

It was at that moment when their respective reveries were broken by the opening door, which creaked in the heavy silence, sounding more like a mournful groan.

"Sasuke?" Naruto muttered hoarsely. He regarded the Uchiha with surprise. He knew that Sasuke hadn't been doing very well, but the man who stood before him looked absolutely unhinged. Sasuke's hair was awry, as if lightening had electrified errant strands until they stood at odd angles from his head. Worst of all, Sasuke's eyes were rimmed with red: there was fear, sadness, but most of all madness roiling in the depths of his purpled irises. In his arms, Takeo murmured unhappily, curled up into a fetal position and seeming fearful of the world around him.

"Naruto," Sasuke replied smoothly, ignoring his sniffling wife beside him, "let's spar."

"What...?" Naruto replied in shock.**  
><strong>Sakura seemed to recover herself first. Silently, she strode over to Sasuke, and without asking, took Takeo from his arms and into her own. Naruto noted that the two didn't even look at each other, and that Sakura took pains to not even brush Sasuke with her fingers when she took the child—as if she were utterly repulsed by him.

Without addressing her husband, Sakura turned to Naruto and whispered, "Why don't you go ahead, Naruto? I was going to take the rest of the day off, anyway..."

Naruto looked between his two compatriots in shock, but in the end, decided against addressing the overwhelming awkwardness that was Sasuke and Sakura's relationship.

"Sure. I could use a good spar," Naruto muttered with forced nonchalance.

Sasuke merely nodded. Sakura practically ran from the room, her hurried steps echoing in the hallway as she made her exit.

_Kami, what the hell is going on with those two? _Naruto thought with a sigh.

* * *

><p>Yuki's vision through Uchiha Mukudori's eyes blurred; time seemed to melt and reform in a dream-like lurch. When space and time reconstituted itself, Yuki found herself swinging through the Forest of Death, flanked on either side by Kaito and Itachi. The latter was in the lead, his eyes whirling red and black as he leapt.<p>

Yuki, trapped in Mukudori's body, murmured, "That was almost too easy."

"We've collected all ten tokens necessary to complete the exam," Itachi replied with a shrug. "In my estimation, we'll be the first team in Konoha history to have completed the exam in under three hours." His voice neither held pride nor excitement; it was just an objective, emotionless statement.

"It would have been nice, though, if Itachi-_sama_ had let us do some of the fighting," Kaito said, his sea green eyes narrowed in consternation.

"Why?" Itachi replied, arching an eyebrow. "That would have been unnecessary on your part, Kaito-san. I merely took care of our opponents in the most efficient way possible."

"We are certainly lucky to have Itachi-sama leading our team," Mukudori murmured, her voice free of any inflection,

Kaito rolled his eyes at Mukudori's sycophantic words, but remained silent. After all, it was common knowledge that Mukudori and Itachi had been officially betrothed that month. Mukudori would eventually be the model Uchiha wife, mostly silent, obedient, a baby on each hip, et cetera. He only hoped that, for Mukudori's sake, Itachi wouldn't be such a wet blanket in bed like the killjoy he was on missions. Kaito snickered at that thought, but his two Uchiha teammates ignored him.

Yuki blinked, startled inside of Mukudori's consciousness. For a moment, it had seemed like she had been thinking inside of _Kaito's_ head—she had picked up on his thoughts. But why? How? It was so strange. Though she felt all the movements of Mukudori's limbs as she leapt through the branches of the trees, and 'heard' everything Mukudori thought, for a moment Yuki's consciousness had shifted to Kaito.

Yuki did not have time to unravel the experience, for Itachi gave the signal to stop. The team slowed. He gave another hand signal for danger, and both Mukudori and Kaito tensed. Before them, three teams surrounded them, their Mist headbands shining in the sunlight. Mukudori thought to herself that they must be targeting Itachi, as the genin had killed many a Mist soldier in the last war; he had only been four or five at the time, but had earned himself a place in the bingo book all the same.

"Clearly, the Mist teams are aiming for me," Itachi murmured in a composed fashion. "You two, leave. I'll handle this."

Mukudori was about to acquiesce to Itachi's command, but next to her, Kaito growled.

"I'm not going to leave a teammate to defend himself against nine enemy ninja, Itachi," Kaito muttered. "I'm fighting alongside you."

Mukudori looked helplessly between her teammates, but before she could make up her mind whether to stay or to flee, the Mist nin started attacking with walls of water, bullets made of ice, and veils of mist and poison. The bulk of the Mist ninja surrounded Itachi, but one team zeroed in on the other two teammates. Mukudori and Kaito were quickly separated from Itachi.

Mukudori's thoughts ran wild with fear, but Kaito sensed her distress and placed a hand on her shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see he was grinning.

"Come on Mukudori-chan—let's watch each other's backs and show these ninja how to fight!"

If they hadn't been under attack, she would have rolled her eyes. But at this moment, she was afraid, and Kaito's grin was the sunshine that melted all her anxiety away. She nodded curtly and the fighting began.

It was a bloody, bitter battle. Mukudori and Kaito managed to take out one opponent apiece, and they were quickly closing in on the third enemy. But suddenly, the masked Mist nin pulled a feint attack at Mukudori, and while Kaito leapt in to help her, one of the Mist ninja's clones stabbed him in the back.

"Kaito!" she yelled in horror as his body slumped to the ground. Abject terror stole over her limbs. She hadn't never been close to Kaito, but he was her teammate, and he had been trying to protect her. If he was wounded on her account—or worse, if he died—Mukudori would not be able to live with herself.

Kaito was bleeding heavily, and his blood mixed in with the mud and pools of dirty water. The Mist nin smirked and turned towards Mukudori, but when she saw the ninja's expression, juxtaposed with the suffering grimace on Kaito's face, she trembled—not with fear this time, but with rage. Time slowed. The fog took on new definitions and subtle gradations. As the Mist nin attacked her, she clearly saw through his attack and sliced him down neatly. She made sure he was dead before she turned towards her companion, whose labored breathing frightened her.

"Kaito! Are you all right?" She bent down towards her teammate and started administering first aid, but she could tell he was going to need serious medical attention if he was going to live. Worry marred Mukudori's delicate features.

"You shouldn't have jumped in front of me," she muttered.

"You're right," Kaito said with a grin, "I was being an idiot. But look at you!"

"Look at me? Moron, I don't have a scratch on me!"

Kaito shook his head, his features contorted in pain, though there was mirth in his eyes. "No, no—your _eyes._ You've got the sharingan."

Mukudori started at that. "What?"

Kaito smiled idiotically. "I'm flattered. You were so worried about me, your magic little Uchiha eyes activated. You really do care, Mukudori-chan!"

She rolled her 'magic little Uchiha eyes' at him and helped him up, looping his arm around her shoulders.

"Let's find Itachi-sama," she muttered.

"Gah. That bastard has probably killed all nine ninja and has barely a scratch to show for it," Kaito replied with his usual bluster. Happy that her teammate was stable for the moment, and pleased that she had awakened her doujutsu, Mukudori gave an uncharacteristic grin.

"Come on, idiot," she chided, "let's get to the tower already."

"Hey, Mukudori-chan..." Kaito replied, unusually serious, "Do you think...after the exams...I could take you on a date?"

"Idiot. I'm officially _engaged_, remember? To Itachi-sama?"**  
><strong>Kaito made a face. "That damn bastard gets everything: talent, girls—"

"However," Mukudori relented, "since you did save my life, I suppose I do owe you. Let's catch a movie or something after the exams—in a friendly, _platonic_ fashion."

Kaito grinned. "Sure..."

Suddenly the scene shifted. Yuki became conscious of her own self; she became suspended outside of Mukudori's mind. Kaito's smile morphed into a picture of the full moon hanging limply in the sky. Below the moon, two dark figures stood on a bridge: Itachi in ANBU garb, and Mukudori in a dark Uchiha uniform. Yuki was propelled once more into Mukadori's body, but this time she melded more completely, and there was less room for her own thoughts.

"Itachi..." Mukadori began, her voice soft, "do you have anything to report? I know you're heading out on a mission soon. I can bring any information you might have to my father. The council meeting is tonight..."

Itachi merely shook his head. "Nothing to report," he replied evenly, his white ANBU mask perched on the top of his head, as if the weasel face was gazing at the stars independently of its master.

"Okay," Mukadori replied softly. Itachi made to leave without saying another word, but Mukudori caught the hem of his garment.

"Itachi-sama..." When he didn't respond, but didn't move away either, Mukudori continued, "I know ours is an arranged marriage—but you don't always have to be so distant."

Itachi bowed and kissed her dispassionately on the cheek. "Forgive me. I am apprehensive about my upcoming mission."

"It was nothing, Itachi-sama," Mukudori replied deferentially.

Though they had been teammates as genin, and were now betrothed, they had never been more than polite to one another. Not that Mukudori minded. She would marry Itachi, uphold the honor of the Uchiha, and hopefully bear many strong children. Such was her fate in life.

She only wished that Itachi could have been more friendly with her. With the coup d'etat fast approaching, she had hoped that Itachi would have confided in her more. After all, when the rebellion was said and done, she and Itachi would be the new heads of the clan and village.

Itachi smiled a polite smile that did not reach his eyes before bounding off towards the Hokage's tower. Feeling oddly cold, Mukudori decided to stroll through town in an attempt to warm her blood and to distract herself from upcoming events. She had not been walking long when a familiar figure came towards her from the shadow of a building.

"Kaito-san," she murmured, bowing politely in greeting. Though his face was obscured, she would know his chakra signature anywhere.

"Mukudori-chan!" Kaito replied, shoving his reptilian ANBU mask up on his head and returning his old teammate's greeting with a hearty hug. You don't have to be so polite—we're old friends, aren't we?"

She smiled painfully. In a manner of a few days, her old teammate would be killed by her clansmen. She felt a pang of remorse at this thought, but schooled her features to remain smooth.

"Of course," she replied, her voice demure and free of any inflection.

"Is Itachi treating you well?" Kaito asked, seeming to sense the sadness in her eyes.

"Of course," she lied, softly.

"He's become even more uptight than when we were as genin, you know—and that's really saying something!" Kaito said with an exaggerated sigh. "I had a mission with him last week and the man didn't say more than five words to me in as many days." He winced when he noticed this line of conversation was unpleasant for Mukudori and quickly changed the topic. "But anyway—you've been all right?"

She nodded wordlessly, hoping that Kaito would stop asking her questions she could not answer.

"Well, anyway…" Kaito began, at a loss for words, "it was good to see you again, Mukudori-chan."

She spared him a smile and bade him goodnight, hurrying away as quickly as she could.

Yuki felt herself freed suddenly from Mukudori's body—she seemed to hover over Mukudori and Kaito like a cloud. Before Yuki could even contemplate her own displacement, her consciousness seemed to settle over Kaito like a fine mist, and then her thoughts and feelings were his.

Kaito watched Mukudori's thin figure retreat in the distance and decided that he would follow her home. She hadn't looked well: the lines of her face had been drawn, and there had been a sickly pallor to her skin. Perhaps Itachi wasn't treating her well? Perhaps the burden of the Uchiha aristocracy was too much for her slight frame to bear? In any event, his feelings of endearment towards his old teammate made him feel protective of her.

He followed her from a distance. He masked his chakra with expertise, thinking how lovely her movements were, like liquid shadow; the moonlight never touched her at all. Eventually, she wound her way through the Uchiha compound, which was eerily quiet. Kaito crept closer to Mukudori, but not close enough to be discovered. Finally, she made it to her house, and Kaito sighed in relief. For some reason, he had been worried about her safe passage home—such a silly thing to worry about, really. He knew that Mukudori, for all her reticence, was a fierce kunoichi on the field.

Just as he was about to turn away, a bit melancholic as his thoughts turned to Mukudori—her pale beauty, her black hair falling down to her waist, and her rare smile that could rival the brilliance of a silver moon—a horrific shriek pierced the air. With newfound panic, Kaito knew with certainty that it was Mukudori who had screamed. He broke into a run.

* * *

><p>Sasuke was panting for breath. His chakra had been drained significantly, but he didn't motion to stop sparring. Naruto, sensing Sasuke's sombre mood, kept pace with the Uchiha, though he, too, was short of breath.<p>

Sasuke executed the magnetic pull of his rinnegan, and Naruto hurtled towards him. He struck out with his fist, but Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke—it had been a clone.

_Thank goodness. Naruto is getting better at defending against the rinnegan..._

Sasuke felt the cold metal of a kunai brush his neck. "It's not like you to be so distracted, Sasuke," Naruto offered as he removed the steel from his friends neck, opting to twirl the knife idly on his finger.

"Hn." No longer able to deny his weariness, Sasuke collapsed under a tree. Naruto offered him some water from his canteen, and the two friends sat in silence for some time, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Sasuke?" Naruto finally ventured, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Sasuke clenched his teeth. _Does he know? Could he possibly know about Madara, and myself...?_

Sensing his compatriot's anxiety, Naruto continued, "Sasuke. I know things have been rough between you and Sakura..."

"Oh. Hn." Startled, Sasuke blinked slowly, the way a man exiting a dark room and walking out into the bright sunshine might. "It's nothing."

"Do you want me to help—"

"No." Naruto sighed at Sasuke's answer. Before Naruto could resume, Sasuke changed the topic: "Let's get back to sparring."

"I'm exhausted, Sasuke, and so are you," Naruto replied. Sasuke shook his head obstinately.

"I want you to be more acquainted with my jutsu."

"Sasuke. I defeated all six paths of Pein—twice_._ I don't think I need to become better acquainted with the rinnegan."

"But the sharingan aspect—"

"—Is not a problem," Naruto answered for him. "I've been sparring with you for _years _Sasuke, with and without your doujutsu. What is your problem today?" Naruto asked in a mixture of exasperation and anger. "You wouldn't even look Sakura in the eye this morning. What the fuck is going on with you?"

Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes, but it was like looking into the eyes of a dead man. Instantly, Naruto regretted his harsh words. Sasuke rose, slowly.

"I wouldn't be able to tell you with words anyway, Naruto—only with my fists."

"Fine," Naruto spat, rising to his feet. "Let's do taijutsu only."

Sasuke nodded, then all at once, the two disciples of the sannin became blurs on the training field as they fought, their movements fluid, flickering like fire and shadow.

It seemed, as they fought, that a great melancholy descended on them both. Perhaps it was the scent of falling leaves, reminding them of summer's sudden flight; or perhaps, through the exchange of fists, one heart grew to understand the other, and the sorrow of each merged and grew larger, like two bottles of wine pouring into a single cup, until the glass overflowed with wine as dark and purpled as blood.

Suddenly, there was a moment where Naruto understood the horror lurking in Sasuke's heart, a new impossible burden; though he knew not whence it came, or why. The shadow of Uchiha Madara stretched out over them both, a canopy of despair which blotted out the sun and which smelled of decay; a dance of bones and wind-blown leaves.

The two paused, regarding each other with fixed eyes and ragged breath. Then, in a final, agonized bout, they lunged at each other in despair. One fist hit the other's face, and they both stumbled backwards, each clutching a bruised eye and a swollen cheek.

"I think I know a little of what you are feeling now, Sasuke," Naruto murmured through barely parted lips. "But…I don't know why." Sasuke nodded; it was enough for him.

"Naruto. Tomorrow morning, I will meet you in your office and I swear—I will tell you everything."

Naruto nodded, appeased. Sasuke had decided in that moment: the right thing to do would be to tell Naruto of Madara's presence and plan—to trade his son for the good of Konoha. This was the ultimate sacrifice, much more difficult than if Sasuke, himself, had to die. It was the price that Itachi had once had to pay as well: to sacrifice that which was closest to him for the good of the village.

Sasuke's heart hardened with resolve and despair. After a wordless nod, Sasuke and Naruto walked back to the village in silence, having accomplished what they had set out to do.

Above them, Madara glimmered like a mirage, like an imagined face one might see in a dark mirror at night. Madara himself nodded his head thoughtfully before dematerializing in a black swirl. But his brief appearance, though it was not seen by a single soul, was felt throughout Konoha as if a vast and menacing storm cloud had covered the village, even though the late summer sky was clear. When Naruto and Sasuke finally made their way back, the village streets seemed sombre. The children were quiet, and the people sat despondently in the entryways to their homes.

If the sky was clear, why did it feel like lightening was about to ripple through the air? Why was the humid air choking; why had the afternoon breeze suddenly stilled? The people in the village shook their heads at these questions and hid in their beds as the sun died in gory light in the west. Something evil and unsettling had entered into the village and was not understood, but felt. The dread was unbearable and haunted the halls of the villagers, though they could not attribute their feelings to anything tangible or imaginable.

* * *

><p>Author's Note: According to the Naruto Database, Itachi killed a ton of ninja in the war when he was four-fucking-years-old. I did not make that up! Blame Kishi for his Mary-sue-age (haha). No wonder things ended so fucked up for the Uchiha T-T.<p>

Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Please review;)


	34. Chapter 34: Corona Borealis

Hey friends! Welcome back. It's been a busy month, I can't even begin to tell you, and I'm sorry for the long wait. Anyway, this chapter brings us to the end of Book Two and into the final stretch of this story. Woo-hoo!**  
><strong>

And after 33 chapters, I finally present to you not one, NOT ONE, but two sex scenes. It's pretty PG-13 stuff here. But I thought I'd warn you (and no, obviously, there is no smut in the opening scene, only angst T-T)

My life is going to be very busy for the next month and a half: things are picking up with work, I will be house-hunting and hopefully moving, and I will also be participating in writing a Story-A-Day in September (google that, it's awesome). So my fanfic will have to take a back seat for just a little while. Expect another update on this fic at the end of September. Thanks for understanding.

Thanks so much to all my wonderful readers for being, well, wonderful, and to my splendid beta, **Uchiha.s,** who crushes spelling mistakes and grammatical errors beneath the heel of her shoe. Crush. Crush.

Without further ado: enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 34: Corona Borealis<strong>

At this point, Yuki was completely subsumed by Mukudori's consciousness: Mukudori's scream was Yuki's scream; the terror of one was of the terror of the other. For one moment, two candles had put their wicks together and had become one flame.

"Itachi!" Mukudori cried, her voice ringing hollow and shrill as she shrank back. Itachi gazed at her with cold, dispassionate eyes. Mukudori glanced to the side and saw her parents' corpses on the top of the stairwell; their blood ran down it in a red waterfall.

With horror, Mukudori looked back at Itachi―weren't they engaged? Wasn't she fated to bear his children cheerfully―and if not cheerfully, then quietly?

How could this be happening?

Itachi advanced on her, his sword still dripping with the blood of her kinsmen. Paralyzed by fear, Mukudori watched with vacuous fascination as his sword darted forward to pierce her heart―

Suddenly, an unseen hand parried Itachi's sword. His katana clanged to the floor, coming to rest at the foot of the wet, red stairs.

Mukudori regained control over her shaking limbs and gasped in renewed horror: Kaito had saved her―and now he, too, was doomed.

"Itachi!" Kaito snarled, "What the fuck is going on! Mukudori is your fiancé, for Kami's sake! What the..." Kaito trailed off when he noticed the corpses splayed at the top of the stairwell, their hearts still raining blood down the steps. Kaito's mouth was set in a firm line as he faced his adversary once more.

"Itachi. This is unforgivable!" He lunged for Itachi.

"Kaito—no!" Mukudori shrieked, finally finding her voice. She shook herself out of her stupor and activated her sharingan, but it was too late.

Kaito, who had no doujutsu, had no chance against Itachi. Even as Mukudori came to Kaito's side, Itachi had already run Kaito through with a kunai.

It wasn't long before Mukudori joined Kaito on the floor, a shuriken embedded in her heart. Itachi left through the open window in a swish of black fabric; in his wake, moonlight filtered in through the curtains, illuminating the room in silver and red.

Coughing up blood, Mukudori dragged herself over to Kaito.

"Kaito," she rasped, "why...?"

He grinned at her even as blood trailed down his face. "I love you, Mukudori-chan. Always have. I'm glad I got to...die...protecting you...like a true...shinobi..." His grin remained even as the light left his eyes. A cold shudder wracked his body, and then he lay still.

Mukudori clenched her teeth against the pain. This was it, then. She had been slain at the hands of her fiancé, and now her friend was dying because of her. No, not just a friend―her comrade; someone whom she might have truly loved, given the chance. It was here on the floor that her blood would pool with Kaito's, becoming one, at last, in death.

As she gasped her final breaths, Mukudori smiled a bittersweet smile, for she had been loved, albeit briefly. She looked out through the open window and saw the constellation called the Corona Borealis; the starry crown, which winked in the inky sky.

Mukudori mused that she was like that woman in mythology―the one whose lover had left her to die, but instead of perishing, had married a god. What was that woman's name, the one who had become the constellation of stars that Mukudori now gazed upon?

Mukudori closed her eyes and remembered the woman's name: Ariadne. Like Ariadne, Mukudori's own blood was wine, and Kaito—a macabre Dionysus.

_Kaito, _Mukudori thought with her last shreds of consciousness, _come draw me up to the next world with you. I don't want to be alone, to linger here any longer..._

In that instant of death, Yuki fled Mukudori's body and returned to herself: her soul flew up through the silvered window and up over the wheeling stars. A hand descended from the murky heavens and grabbed ahold of Yuki; it pulled her up through the purple clouds, until she stood in a white room.

Shaking all over, Yuki took in her surroundings. She looked at the hand clasping hers, and slowly, her gaze traveled up to his face. She gasped―

Ryuu stood before her, appearing as he had been before their fateful mission to Ame.

* * *

><p>Naruto stood by the open window, thinking of his son. The moon above was a pale, sickly yellow; its light jaundiced everything it touched. Naruto regarded the moon as if it were an enemy spy, its shining face one of treachery and unrest.<p>

Ever since afternoon, the village lay under a dense shroud: the air was humid and stifling. The only breezes that blew were hot and did not dispel the darkness in Naruto's heart.

He looked at his hands:hands which were said to be the strongest in the village. But these hands had not been able to to save his son. They had not been able to rescue Sasuke's daughter, either. What good was his strength if he could not save the village's children from early graves? He was unfit to be called Hokage, Naruto thought bitterly.

He looked back up at the moon; its pale light seemed to mock him. Naruto was about to draw the shade closed when a cool hand stopped him―it was Hinata, though he hadn't noticed that she had entered the room. He looked up into Hinata's eyes, as wide and luminescent as the moon itself; but unlike the moon, the light of Hinata's eyes didn't deprecate his grief. They shone with kindness and a soft, desperate sadness that mirrored his own.

"You feel it too, don't you, Hinata-chan?" Naruto withdrew his hand from the curtain and held onto Hinata's hand instead, lowering their entwined fingers to rest in his lap.

"What is this feeling, Naruto-kun?" Hinata whispered, her eyes looking up at the hazy sky. "I haven't felt so sad since Ryuu-kun..." She sniffled, and there was a long pause. "I thought it would get easier with time, but it doesn't. The grief just never stops..."

"It will probably never get better," Naruto confided in a whisper. He looked away from the moon and turned towards Hinata, whose eyes were closed; silver tears streamed down her face. He took a step closer to her and kissed her eyelids.

"I have a horrible feeling that things are about to get worse," Naruto murmured. "There is such a terrible _feeling_ in the air―"

Hinata held a finger to his lips and stopped him.

"Let's not speak like this, Naruto-kun." She drew the shade, blotting out the moonlight, and they both sighed in relief. Naruto held Hinata close.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm feeling so _morbid," _he muttered. "It's not like me."

"I'm tired, Naruto-kun," was her faint reply. "Let's go to sleep." She kissed his whiskered cheek and turned away in the darkness.

But when they lay in bed, they were unable to rest. Tossing and turning, the sheets twisted around their bodies. It was impossible to breathe; the air was viscous, and their minds would not let them rest. At last, unable to bear it any longer, Naruto reached for his wife; his hand grazed her bare back, and she turned to him. The sheets rustled, falling off the bed like old snake skins.

Sadness was eased by feather-light caresses, while kisses erased salty tears. Hope danced in the corners of their mouths; they defied the oppressive air by flying without wings. Here in the curve of a hip, in the bend of a knee, they remembered that dawn would come again; that the moon would disappear in time.

Hinata looked into her husband's eyes and saw his sorrow―but there was also softness, and joy, and light. She thought to herself that the darkness could never conquer Naruto's eyes. As long as his eyes held such a light, life was still possible.

And as they clasped each other, life blossomed in their bodies; it coursed through their hearts like a river fed with new rain.

With uneven breath, they shuddered against each other, and then lay still. Hinata rose up on her elbows and kissed his closed eyes, the source of her sunlight. He smiled sleepily and held her in his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder.

They had pushed back the oppressive curtain of night, and for that moment, it was enough. It was not an ending, but a beginning to many bright, precious things.

* * *

><p>Takeo was in bed, Saki was sleeping over at the Uzumaki household, and Sasuke had not come home yet. Sakura didn't know where he was―he could have been dead for all she cared. Walking to her bedroom, she passed by the Yuki's vacant room; Sakura sighed bitterly.<p>

It just didn't make any sense. Why did Yuki leave? Who was Akemi baachan, really? Certainly not a harmless old woman who sold antiques, that was for sure. And now her her baby...was gone.

Strangely, Saki had seemed to cheer up after her parents' failure to recover Yuki. Saki had said something about having faith, that Yuki had something she needed to do; the sentiment reminded Sakura of Naruto's indomitable faith in his friends. But what could Yuki, a ten-year-old slip of a girl, hope to accomplish by running away?

Was she even still alive?

Sakura bit her lip. She must not think like this―it would get her nowhere. But despite herself, she entered Yuki's room and sat on the cold bed. Bitterness and hatred welled up in her heart: it was Sasuke who had pushed Yuki over the edge, Sasuke who had made Yuki leave.

Sakura would never forgive him.

For all the times he had tried to murder her, or tried to murder Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, these assaults she could forgive. Even the death of the Konoha nin in the last war who had fallen by Sasuke's hand, this, too, she could forgive.

But placing their daughter in danger? Giving her a lethal weapon? Causing her to run away from home? No, this was beyond the pale of her compassion. Her heart became like a hard, withered pomegranate rattling with bitter seeds. Slow, hot tears fell from her face and onto Yuki's quilt.

Sakura was not a religious person, but in that moment, she was at her rope's end. What more did she have to lose, at this point? She clasped her hands together and thought about her parents, her ancestors, all in theory watching over her and her children.

"Mother…" she whispered, all vestiges of self-consciousness banished from her despair, "Father, Spirits, I don't know what to do. Please help me; watch over Yuki-chan..." she trailed off, tears choking her words.

She sat there for a long time until she was emotionally spent, and then with slow movements, like the hobble of an elderly woman, she made her way into her own bedroom. She didn't bother turning on the lights. She didn't change into her nightgown. She simply laid on the bed and looked up at the sky through her window. The moon, a sallow gibbous, hung like an evil eye.

Suddenly, her wan view of the moon was cast into darkness; she looked up and realized it was Sasuke standing over her. She wanted to scream at him―to tell him he could sleep on the floor again, or better yet, that he could go to hell, but her mouth was dry and her tongue cleaved to the roof of her mouth. She had no words. She merely stared, glassy eyed, up at the monolithic shadow that was her husband.

Sasuke made no motion to move, either; he simply stared down at his wife. They stayed like that for a while, until at last, Sasuke moved from the window and sat down on the bed next to Sakura. The moonlight returned, streaming its yellow, waxen light over Sakura's face and dyeing it a pale ocher.

Sasuke couldn't think of anything to say and, anyway, he knew that any words he might find would anger Sakura. He remembered his resolve to make Sakura hate him, to strengthen her resolve to kill him―he had no appetite for it now. The sentiment seemed puerile and insipid at a moment like this.

He had spent the evening sitting quietly on the roof, watching the sun set and the stars wink into existence. He was firm in his resolve to tell Naruto the truth about Madara, and with his decision came an empty kind of peace—a detachment from reality.

It was a tranquility that felt half like death, and half like something he couldn't name. He was an empty vessel, filled only by the passing moment. He was an artisial well: water constantly flowed through him, but nothing of permanence stayed.

But now, seeing Sakura's face bathed in the sickly moonlight, half of her face in light, half in shadow, the sorrow clearly etched in her lifeless eyes…this stirred Sasuke out of his cocoon of nothingness. It struck him that tomorrow would be the last day―the last day of Takeo's life, and by extension, the last day of his marriage. Sakura would no longer love Sasuke after he murdered Takeo, even if it was to save the village...

Sasuke took a deep breath and thought about the past ten years of his marriage. It hadn't always been beautiful, or enjoyable, or even special; but Sasuke wouldn't trade a single day of the past decade for anything. They were, without a doubt, the best years of his pitiful existence. Tonight would be the last night of his life; after this, if Sakura didn't kill him, then surely the guilt over Takeo's death would drive him down into the grave.

As if of its own volition, his hand brushed the half of Sakura's face that was bathed in shadow. She flinched, but did not move away. Her skin was cold. With the gentlest of movements, he ran his fingers through her hair, knotted from days of neglect but still soft and beautiful.

If exchanging fists was how he and Naruto understood each other, then this was how he and Sakura communicated. And perhaps the gulf between them had emerged from a lack of touch. Sasuke's hand in Sakura's hair was truth, and any words were mere shells of meaning. Sound beguiled, and sight deceived; the only truth was in silence and darkness.

Sasuke withdrew his hand then and, rising stiffly, he fumbled through his drawers. Sakura felt cold from the sudden withdrawal of his fingers, but she did not move; she merely looked up at the yellow moon. When Sasuke returned, he wore a scarf tied around his eyes, and in his hands he held another.

He leaned over her body and tied the fabric over her eyes. She didn't protest, or ask him what he was doing, or why; she was too weary to question him. She lay like a limp rag doll as he tied it in place. Then there was no moon, and there was no light, only darkness and the cloth that was damp from her fresh tears.

He kissed her. It was neither gentle nor passionate, it just was; but with it came electricity that animated her body. She forgot all the moments that came before this one, and she could not care for the moments that would follow. All her hate and anger seemed to have belonged to another person. Here, there was only darkness, and lips; calloused fingers brushing her hair and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

The wind blew in through the window; goose-bumps formed on her shoulders. Sasuke sighed, and his breath fanned out over her arms, making her shiver, but not from cold. Her mouth found purchase on his salty neck.

She breathed into the shell of his ear, whispering the silent song of her broken heart. And his fingers danced across her body as if he were playing an instrument, only she made no sound except the sound of her breath, which was the sound of the wind, or the ocean. With deft motions, they removed each other's garments; the clothing fell around them like yellowed leaves from autumnal trees.

When he touched her, the bare skin of her breasts, or the soft down on her neck, he was devouring her; when he moved inside of her, it was a small death each time; an exquisite death. Each breath she took shuddered inside of her, and each exhalation was a silent cry.

And she was weeping―her face was wet with her tears, while his tears were falling on her face and on her hair, until Sakura was sure that she was drowning; that the ocean was dissolving her in brine. She moved with the push and the pull of the tide, she was bathed in moonlight and in the sea. Inside her and around her were the silent whispers of his soul: crushing, dark, beautiful. It was sadness and insanity all in one, sonorous and dissonant and precious.

She held him until they both fell, their lips pressed together and their breath the same breath in surrender to each other. Stars pierced the darkness, dancing on their closed eyelids: this was life and death, the exquisite oblivion which can not be named, which has no words; only sorrow and ecstasy and dissolution.

They collapsed into each other like the crashing waves on the ocean. He held her, still inside of her; they fell asleep clothed only in moonlight and in darkness.

―――End of Book II―――

_I was left for dead on the battlefield,_

_After the first, so called, great war;_

_My lifeblood pooling in the earth,_

_My eyes broken and dark._

_She came striding through the carnage,_

_Like an angel draped in black;_

_When she saw my labored breathing,_

_She carried me on her back._

_Saying "All my kin lay fallen, _

_My village is ash, smoldering in rain;_

_But your life I can save with my hands,_

_And the herb 'Angel of the Mountain.'"_

_I awoke the next morning,_

_Her brother's eyes where once were mine;_

_And gasping with my newfound sight,_

_Realized she hailed from the enemy's side._

_I sat straight up in bed,_

_My blood all froze;_

_Crying "Why'd you save me, woman?_

_I'm the very one who razed your home."_

_She sighed, "My home has vanished in fire and smoke,_

_My family is all dead;_

_But your death won't bring them back―_

_Your death would mark one more among the dead."_

_I shook my head and cried, "It could have been I_

_Who killed your mother and dad!_

_Who set fire to your house and fields_

_And destroyed all you ever had."_

_Said she, "It does not matter at all to me―_

_They are dead, my dad and mother,_

_And likewise lifeless lay all my kin;_

_I've given you the eyes of my brother._

_The sun always rises in the east,_

_In the west lays her weary head:_

_When you return to your village,_

_All that you once loved will also be dead."_

_The maiden traveled with me,_

_Back to the place of my birth;_

_It was all as she had prophesied―_

_All was dead and burned._

_So the lady and I, we traveled south,_

_To the Mountains of the Aether;_

_And there we build a home,_

_Among the wild roses and the heather._

_Singing prayers to the dead,_

_All cold and dumb in their graves;_

_War is the trumpet of the idiots,_

_Her soldiers all ignorant slaves._

_Dark is the dawn in winter,_

_The sun obscured by snow;_

_Long is the night in December,_

_Where the stars coldly glow._

_The battlefield is scattered with bones,_

_The ground is cold and frozen;_

_The ghosts of soldiers wander and groan,_

_Lost, incorporeal, and forsaken._

_What is there to gain by firing_

_Hot forges and forming weapons;_

_Just to help the soldier kill for unknown gain,_

_Leaving the fields burned and barren._

_I once had friends and kin,_

_And a wife by my side;_

_Now all I have are memories of war,_

_And exile on the mountainside._

_The lady of the mountain, _

_She mourns both night and day;_

_Though the birds sing round our cabin,_

_They cannot keep the night away._

_Song of the aether,_

_Where the air is thin and cold;_

_And the dance of the dragonflies,_

_Knows nothing of the burning in my soul._

_Song of the aether,_

_Where the sea shapes the horizon gray;_

_And all the thoughts of yesteryear,_

_Poisons the movement of the day._

_Song of the aether,_

_Where my heart feels small and old;_

_And every night we clutch at each other_

_For comfort that has grown cold._

* * *

><p><em>an  
><em>

_I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And see you again at the end of September!  
><em>

_Please review;)  
><em>


	35. Chapter 35: Darkness

I honestly can't believe how long it took me to update, guys. Sorry about that! To answer the panicked questions of some reviewers: yes, I will finish this story. It's all written out, just takes me a while to edit and update:)

In case you're wondering, I wrote about 24 short stories for Story A Day, and finished NaNoWriMo with a 110, 600 word original novel:) So yeah, that's pretty much what I've been up to!

Sorry again for the long wait. But I think you'll find that this chapter was worth it.

Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Chapter Thirty-Five: <em>Darkness<em>

_In the third year of living the mountain_

_I gazed upon the sea, the rolling plain. _

_I saw the exiles climbing peak by peak_

_Escaping horrors of which they could not speak._

~The Third Book of Akash, Verse I

Saki and Hoshiko wandered the dark streets of Konoha in misery; each had been 'sexiled' by their respective parents. First Hoshiko's parents had started doing their thing, and the two genin had tried to escape to Saki's house—with no luck. It seemed Sakura and Sasuke were also engaged in acts that the two genin would rather not overhear.

"Damn it. What the hell is wrong with our parents?" Saki moaned, kicking a rock out of the street.

Hoshiko shrugged. "Meh. I'm used to it. My parents fuck all the time."

"Oh my god," Saki cried. "First of all, you just used the word 'fuck' in a sentence! And second of all, your parents do _that_ all the time?"

Hoshiko rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I thought it was normal."

Saki shuddered. "No way. My parents...I don't usually hear them...yeah. Blech." Hoshiko laughed as Saki stuck out her tongue, but then the Uzumaki grew suddenly sombre.

"Saki-chan, doesn't the moonlight feel wrong tonight?"

"How can moonlight feel wrong?" Saki said, twirling the end of one pink braid around her fingers. "You worry too much."

They walked in silence for a while, until Saki sat on the curb and Hoshiko leaned against a telephone poll.

"You know what I mean Saki-chan. Something feels creepy tonight..." Hoshiko activated her byakugan and squinted in the shadows. Saki eyed her friend askance, but she, too, activated her doujutsu and surveyed the scene.

"I don't see anything, Hoshiko-chan."

"Me neither. But I still have the creeps..."

Saki sighed. "Well, we certainly can't go _home._ Who do we know whose parents aren't having sex?"

Hoshiko snorted. "Well, I don't know for sure, but we can try Cho-san's house? I mean, I don't know what her parents are like, but what is the likelihood that they're fucking too?"

"OH MY GOD!"

"What?" Hoshiko asked, covering her ears as Saki screamed.

"YOU SAID THE F WORD AGAIN!"

"Saki," Hoshiko said with a sigh, "get over it. Come on, let's go!"

Saki laughed as the two ran to their teammate's house. It was too late to knock on the front door, so they climbed up the side of the house and tapped on Cho's window instead.

"What...?" Cho mumbled as she opened the window. "What are you two doing here? It's late." She shot them a pained look.

"Can we sleep over?" Hoshiko ventured, her wide eyes round and pleading.

"Because we've both been sexiled," Saki finished.

Cho blinked. "Wait...your parents...?"

"Are having sex," Saki explained patiently.

"Hold on..." Cho blinked a few more times. "They're both having sex at the same time?"

"Hellooo? Open your ears," Saki muttered.

Cho scrunched up her face in confusion. "But not with each other...like, all together—"

"WHAT!" Saki yelped. "What kind of sick-o are you, Cho?"

"Dear Kami," Hoshiko moaned, "tell me she didn't just say what I think she said?"

"Shhh, you'll wake my parents! Just— get in here, you two!" Cho said, shaking her head.

"Cho, how could you even _say_ anything like that?" Saki whispered as she climbed through the window.

"I feel like someone needs to take a steel wool pad to my mind..." Hoshiko added, covering her ears with her hands.

"Sorry guys, it's just...you know, your parents are all really good friends, and I thought—"

"CHO! Time to change the _subject_," Saki snapped.

Hoshiko hid her giggle behind her hand. "Anyway, thanks for having us, Cho-san. I hope we didn't wake you."

Cho shook her head. "Actually, I wasn't really sleeping well. Do you guys have the feeling that something bad is about to happen? I have this awful feeling in the pit of my stomach..."

"See, Saki!" Hoshiko cried. "It's not just me. I swear, it's absolutely creepy out tonight! Even the moonlight is a sickly yellow color."

"Listen, things have been so gloomy in my house after Yuki..." Saki trailed off and shook her head. "Well, let's just say that maybe, if there was a giant cloud of doom hanging over the village, I wouldn't even see it—things are _already_ that dreadful at my house."

Hoshiko nodded sympathetically and rubbed Saki's shoulder. "I'm sure Yuki will be all right, Saki-chan."

Saki offered her a wan smile in return. "I know. I have faith in her." Saki drew her jacket tighter around her; it was Yuki's black jacket, the one she had left with Saki when she had run away from home. Saki lifted the collar up and smelled the leather, which still smelled like her sister.

"I don't know what Yuki's doing out there," Saki said after a long pause, "but she was damn sure that it was important. Yuki left me in a genjutsu when she left. It wasn't a bad one!" Saki added quickly when Cho gave her a worried look, "No—it was like a dream, where she told me everything was going to be okay, and that I had to just trust her..."

Saki closed her eyes and remembered Yuki's words: _"I'm sorry Saki-chan. Just please, trust me. Have faith that I'm leaving for the right reason. And when I come back—I promise—I'll be a better sister..."_

Saki smiled bittersweetly at the memory. "I know she'll come back when the time is right," she said at last, her eyes flashing with determination.

Her teammates smiled at that.

"Listen," Cho said after a gentle silence, "Tsunade-sama is going to be grilling us tomorrow in medical ninjutsu. We'd better get to sleep." Her younger companions murmured in agreement, and Cho supplied them with sleeping mats.

Saki lay on her pallet and stared up at the sky through the window. The cold stars were gleaming. The sallow moon was sinking in the west. She thought that this same sky was sheltering her sister, however far away she might be. _Doesn't otousan always say that when our friends and family pass on, they become stars in the sky? So then, maybe Ryuu-kun is watching over my sister,_ Saki thought sleepily. This thought gave her peace of mind, and as she drifted off to sleep, she wondered which star might be his...

#

"Ryuu..." Yuki's voice broke when she said his name.

"Hey, Yuki-chan!" he replied, cheerful as ever, a wide grin splitting his face. "How's it going?"

Yuki quickly forgot her surprise at seeing her long dead teammate and punched Ryuu in the arm. "What! I haven't seen you since you _died,_ and that's all you have to say for yourself?"

"Aw, come on Yuki-chan, that hurt!" Despite his protest, he was still grinning broadly.

Yuki smiled, and in contrast to her angry outburst a moment before, she flung her arms around her teammate. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, marveling over how solid he felt.

"I always thought you couldn't touch ghosts..." Yuki mumbled into his shoulder, trying and failing to stifle her tears.

Ryuu laughed and hugged her back. "Pffft. I'm not a ghost—I'm a _spirit_ now. Sheesh! Ghosts are the unhappy spirits who roam the earth, trapped, not knowing that they're actually dead. I'm in the next world. If anyone should be see-through, it's _you."_

Yuki pulled away and eyed him askance. "Why should I be intangible? I'm _alive._ You're the one who's dead, idiot." Ryuu started laughing hysterically at that. Yuki placed her hands on her hips. "What's so fucking funny, Ryuu?" she bellowed, going red in the face.

Ryuu wiped away a tear. "I'm sorry—it's just—you're exactly how I remember you!" he replied. "Let me explain: sometimes living humans visit the realm of the departed, but usually it's while they are dreaming—they don't _know_ they're actually _here_. And when they come, it's like they're see-through. I can't usually hold or touch them. But you! You're not dreaming, are you?"

Yuki shook her head no. "I'm learning this spirit walking stuff. It's pretty weird, I guess..."

Just then, a bright light pulsed in the empty white room. The light grew faded, and slowly, Aya emerged. "Hey kids," Aya called in her sing-song voice, "How's it going?"

"Angel lady!" Ryuu shouted, hopping from foot to foot.

Aya just chuckled and ruffled his hair. "How are you, Yuki-chan?"

"How can you people be so damn casual?" Yuki fumed. "Geez. I'm talking to my _dead_ friend, and it's just—everyone is so nonchalant!"

Ryuu rolled his eyes. "Don't mind her, she's always been too serious."

"I AM NOT TOO SERIOUS!" Yuki lunged at Ryuu.

"Hey, come on!" Ryuu cried. "I'm the spirit here, don't hurt me! You should be crying with joy to see me again and all that good stuff, not trying to kill me again!" Ryuu yelped as he ran away from enraged friend.

Aya held her sides in from laughing too hard. She finally caught her Yuki and held her away from her dearly departed friend. "Oi, Yuki," Aya shouted, "Ryuu has something important to tell you."

"I do?" Ryuu asked, confused. "Oh, yeah...probably about that past life stuff, right?"

Yuki blinked. "You know about that?"

Now it was Ryuu's turn to roll his eyes. "Well duh. I was there."

Yuki pointed accusingly at Ryuu. "Hey, Aya said these past life regression thingies were private. Were you peeking?"

"Gah! Yuki. Hello? I was _in_ your past life."

"Huh?" Yuki asked with a blank expression.

Ryuu slapped himself in the face and Aya chuckled. "Ryuu-kun," Aya said, "why don't you go ahead and show her. I'm going back to the peanut gallery..." Aya murmured, amused, as she faded back out of the white room.

Yuki turned towards Ryuu. "What in the world...?"

Ryuu shrugged. His figure shimmered in a flash of bright light, then morphed: his blond hair became red, and his blue eyes became bottle green.

"Kaito?" Yuki called weakly. But she could say no more—she felt her body shifting too. Her short black hair grew long, her frame was shorter and more delicate.

"Mukudori..." Kaito smiled warmly as he said her name.

The white room lurched. It seemed to Yuki that they were floating freely in space, that the directions up and down no longer had any meaning. Yuki and Ryuu's bodies continued to change, over and over again, into different patterns: the lines of their faces varied, morphed, and blurred. They were hundreds of different people, shifting in myriad colorations and lifetimes until finally, they coalesced back to the familiar forms of Yuki and Ryuu.

"See?" Ryuu said with a grin, "I've always been with you."

Yuki steadied herself, felt the familiar contours of her body, and then looked into Ryuu's face. She began to cry. Without a word, Ryuu strode forward and simply held her.

"Why did you have to die, Ryuu-kun?" Yuki sobbed into his shoulder. "Why did you leave me?"

Ryuu shook his head. "I've never left you, Yuki-chan." He nudged her face with his chin and looked into her watery eyes. "And I never will." He kissed her on the mouth, softly, and the world around them dissolved into white light.

**#**

Sasuke woke with Sakura in his arms, savoring the embrace like a condemned man feasting on his last meal. He removed the blindfold around his eyes without waking his wife and activated his doujutsu. He memorized the lines of Sakura's face. The colors of her skin. Her lips parted in gentle sleep. The rise and fall of her breath. Morning light filtered in, suffusing Sakura in pale gold and ochre. Her hair gleamed orange, falling around her face like coppery halo.

Still in the hazy space between dreaming and waking, Sasuke remembered the story of Psyche and Cupid—how Psyche removed her blindfold and lost her lover. Sasuke brushed his lips against Sakura's hair. He did not want to remove her blindfold. Let it take as long as possible for Sakura's final disillusionment to fall, like hot wax, from eyes to cheek, heart to hand.

He edged away from his wife's warm skin without waking her, then left the bedroom in a whisper. He strode past Takeo's room, refusing to open the door to say goodbye. It would weaken his resolve. Quickly, he exited the house , speeding away through the empty streets like a shaking leaf driven by howling winds, until he stood in front of the Hokage tower.

Sasuke didn't bother with the front gate. Without breaking his stride, he channeled chakra to his feet, running up the wall and into Naruto's window. The room was empty. Dark. Sasuke settled on the window ledge and faced east, watching the rising sun dye the horizon copper and coral, painting thin wisps of clouds in broad, pink strokes across the sky. The clouds stretched like the edges of angel wings, covering the sky with their magenta feathers. It was beautiful, but Sasuke's eyes felt dull. His heart was empty.

"Oi, bastard, what's your ass doing on my windowsill?"

Wordlessly, Sasuke turned to face Naruto, glaring.

"Sasuke, please don't ruin my good mood. The day has barely begun," Naruto moaned, running a hand through his disheveled hair. Sasuke didn't say anything as he shoved himself into the nearest chair.

_This is it,_ Sasuke thought. _This is the end._ Sasuke looked up at Naruto and his mouth parted in surprise. Behind Naruto, Madara waved, a cruel grin curving his bloodless lips. Naruto raised and eyebrow at Sasuke's stare and turned around to look behind him.

"Sasuke, what are you looking at? You look like you've just seen a ghost," Naruto said, his jocular tone fading when he met Sasuke's panicked gaze.

"You—you don't see anything?"

"Teme. I see a _wall..._"

Before Sasuke could respond, Madara conjured up a blue film. An image of Takeo wavered across its surface. Madara grinned wider as the life force drained out of Takeo and into Madara, just as it had before.

Sasuke closed his eyes. If he didn't reveal Madara's plan to Naruto, hundreds—no, thousands!— of people in Konoha were going to die. It was a sacrifice he had to make. _Just like Itachi_, Sasuke thought, his insides clenching. _Just like Itachi…_

"Sasuke?" Naruto muttered, breaking into Sasuke's thoughts. "You were going to tell me something important?"

Sasuke nodded, his eyes still closed. "It's about Madara..."

Suddenly, Sasuke _heard_ his son screaming, a shrill shriek that made Sasuke tremble. His eyes snapped open to see the waxen image of his only son writhing in pain.

"No!" Sasuke cried. "Stop! Please stop!"

Madara glared at Sasuke. The chakra still flowed out of Takeo and into Madara's translucent body.

"I'll do whatever you want!" he wailed. "Just stop!"

Madara let the jutsu fade, Takeo's image disappearing. "Then you'll leave," Madara murmured, his velvety tone doing nothing to hide his malice. "Right now, Sasuke-kun. Come to me."

"Um...Sasuke?" Naruto ventured, coming forward and placing a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Who are you talking to?"

"Forgive me, Naruto." Sasuke rose and bowed. "I need to go."

"Sasuke! What the hell—"

Before Naruto could stop him, Sasuke was gone through the open window, running down the side of the hokage tower and out into the pale dawn. He sped on until the village became a silent blur. In a suspended, surreal state of consciousness, Sasuke realized how similar he was to Itachi—they both had one person whom they could not kill, not even to save the whole village. Not even to save themselves.

Sasuke left the village gates and ran into the forest, tears streaking down his face.

_Forgive me, Itachi..._

#

"It's time for you to meet Itachi," Ryuu murmured in Yuki's ear.

Yuki shook her head. "I don't want to leave you..."

Ryuu chuckled, though Yuki didn't know what was so funny. "You'll see me again," Ryuu promised. "Come on, Yuki-love..."

Yuki looked up into his eyes which flickered between sky blue and green. She nodded. Too choked up to speak, she placed her hand in his.

Suddenly they were flying through a strange, etheric world. There were no definite shapes here, only colors, light, and diffuse cloud-like landscapes.

"Where are we, Ryuu?" Yuki asked, feeling like she was lost in a running watercolor painting.

"In the aether," Ryuu said, his long blond hair fanning out around his face. "The aether holds the universe together—it's the air that exists beyond the world, the place where the spirits return after their lives end on earth."

"Oh," Yuki said, though she wasn't really sure she understood.

Ryuu laughed, and it sounded like the chiming bells. "Guess you have to be dead for it to really make sense," he said, his eyes crinkling with mirth.

Yuki bit her bottom lip, saddened by Ryuu's comment. But there was no time for more questions—they fell towards a swath of purple clouds, the roar of the wind drowning out all other sound. As they neared, the light shone brighter. There was a brilliant burst of light—

Suddenly, Yuki stood in a grassy clearing illuminated on all sides, though there was no sun or moon. There were only cold stars winking in the farthest reaches of the sky. She was alone.

"Ryuu?" she called, turning in a full circle and not finding him anywhere. A flock of crows cawed and coalesced in front of her, their mournful cries filling the strange world with palpable darkness. Yuki took a step back as a lone, dark figure emerged from the shadows.

"Itachi," Yuki breathed. She recognized him instantly from her past life. Unbidden, her body shifted in the swirling shadows, until she became Mukudori once more.

Itachi nodded at her, as if in greeting—then, without warning, he leapt back threw a handful of kunai straight at her.

Without thinking, Yuki activated her sharingan and snarled, avoiding his onslaught and attacking with kunai of her own.

_We dance the dance of death,_ called a voice from all directions at once. Yuki, unfazed, crouched low to the ground and waited, in the darkness, for Itachi to reveal himself.

#

When Sakura awoke, she was alone and shivering in the breeze coming in through the open window. She was still wearing her blindfold.

"Sasuke?" she called. No answer. She removed the blindfold and was blinded by the sunlight streaming in through the window.

Suddenly, she heard Takeo crying from the other room. She threw on a robe and ran to his crib.

"Takeo-chan, you look so pale..." she murmured, holding him in her arms. Though Sakura rocked him, he continued to cry and shriek. She felt his forehead with her palm. He was freezing cold. She checked his vitals, but everything seemed to be fine. Shrugging, she channeled chakra into his body—it seemed to help. Takeo stopped crying, and instead snuggled closer to her.

"Sasuke, are you home?" Sakura called, the sound of her own voice sounding hollow to her. There was still no answer. She bowed her head, her pink hair framing her face. Sasuke must have let her sleep late, which was nice, but she wished he would have left her a note—something, anything, about what he was feeling, or where he had gone to.

She took Takeo back to her room, got dressed, and left the house. It wasn't like Sasuke to leave without letting her know where he was going. She resolved to visit Naruto. Sometimes, Naruto knew her husband better than she did herself, Sakura thought with a grimace

But when she reached the Hokage's tower, Naruto had no idea where Sasuke had gone. Yes, he had seen him that morning, but Sasuke had been acting weirdly. Naruto thought the stress of losing Yuki was getting to Sasuke, but he told Sakura not to worry. Sasuke just needed space right now. He'd be fine.

She believed him. Naruto was usually right about things that involved Sasuke. She went to work her shift at the hospital, Takeo in tow. He had behaved himself beautifully, and the patients enjoyed seeing his cherubic face, though Sakura noted that Takeo smiled less than he usually did. Perhaps he _was_ coming down with something...

When Sasuke didn't return home that night, Sakura called on Naruto again, this time via her hiraishin tattoo.

"Naruto-kun," she said, her face pinched with worry as Naruto materialized in her living room, "find Sasuke."

Naruto, seeing her anxious expression, nodded wordlessly and began searching. His face went deathly pale.

"I can't find him… Sakura...I can't find him anywhere!"

Sakura lost all feeling in her extremities. Her knees buckled and she fell to the floor, her mouth parted in a silent cry.

#

Yuki's body continually flickered between her own and the form of Uchiha Mukudori as she fought Itachi. The ground shuddered under their footsteps. The air shimmered and the wind howled along with their movements. It was less like a traditional spar and more like an airborne dance; in this world, gravity had no meaning. They were weightless like birds, like fish, as they hurled weapons and jutsu at each other.

Itachi's face as expressionless as a statue, but with each blow, with each throw of kunai, the air would shimmer and Yuki could read it almost as clearly as if the winds were whispering words. When his fist met her blocking hand, she knew his sorrow. Their eyes locked. He seemed to see the echo of his own thoughts in her eyes.

"Can you forgive me, Mukudori?" he said suddenly, his arms falling to his sides.

She shook her head. Her body wavered like a heat mirage,then rematerialized into her more familiar form. "My name is Yuki, Uchiha-san. I am your niece."

The exchanged more blows, each with the fluid grace of fish in water, before Itachi spoke again. "You are my niece, and you are Yuki, but you are also Mukudori..."

"And as Mukudori, and as Yuki, I forgive you." With that, she broke through his defenses and stabbed him in the heart with a kunai. His body disintegrated in a flock of crows. The sky was stained red.

Yuki spun around. A cold wind roared as Itachi's body emerged from a cloud of wheeling crows. He spoke, the words reverberated throughout the world: "Yuki-san, I would like to teach you the jutsu to defeat Uchiha Madara. Are you willing to learn?"

Yuki nodded, slowly. "Yes, please, Itachi-san."

"Good. Then my soul will finally be at rest." He stepped towards her and procured a kunai from his robes. "Hold out your hands."

Yuki obliged, and he sliced her palms with the blade, letting her blood drip down onto the grass. She shivered, but she felt no pain.

"Follow the hand-signs I make..." Itachi intoned. She followed with ease, her sharingan already activate from their previous battle.

#

Sasuke felt like he was suspended in air, suspended inside of himself, as he slipped through the village gates and into the dark forest. The trees blurred on the edges of his vision into formless shadows, and he ran until he could run no more. He stood, panting, in the depths of the forest, the sound of screeching birds punctuating the silence.

Sasuke lifted his gaze. There, shimmering before him, was Madara.

"Ordinarily," Madara drawled, "I would have let you run all the way to our rendezvous point. It's only another day's journey after this point. And it would have been _so _satisfying to continue watching your inner turmoil. But," Madara said, shaking his head, "your idiot departure is sure to bring attention to us all too soon. We're going to teleport."

"Swear to me, Madara," Sasuke snarled, "swear to me that you won't hurt my son."

Madara chuckled, the dark sound reverberating like thunder. He held up his hands in mock surrender and called, "I _am,_ after all, a man of my word. I swear. Even if I end up slaughtering every single person in Konoha, I will spare your son if you simply come with me. Satisfied?"

Sasuke nodded.

Madara formed a series of hand-signs: all at once, Sasuke felt his hiraishin tattoo dissolve from its habitual place on his arm. "Any other tracking seals, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke nodded and pointed to the ANBU tracking seal, which Madara destroyed next.

"Any _other_ tracking seals, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke lifted his head, his steely gaze meeting Madara's eyes. "No," he replied. It was the truth. The only other seal on his body was the death seal, but that was not a tracking seal. That seal, above all others, had to stay intact and undetected by Madara. It would be his final mistake, Sasuke thought grimly.

Without saying a word, Sasuke held out his hand. Madara's grasp was surprisingly firm as the familiar, disquieting sensation of Madara's teleporting jutsu activated. The world swirled around them, faded into darkness, and reformed in a spacious clearing. Sasuke could see pale mountains in the distance, their peaks painted gold by the dawn.

"This way, Sasuke-kun," Madara murmured, leading his captive by the wrist into a cave. Spider webs stuck to the sides of Sasuke's face as he entered, but he made no move to wipe them away.

"The jutsu will take about two days to complete. It's a bit reminiscent of the jinchuriki extraction, if you remember that at all. But instead of taking something _out_ of you, we'll be putting what's left of my essence _into_ you."

Madara took Sasuke by the shoulders and placed him under a contorted statue with three grotesque heads.

"Okay! Chit chat time is over. Let's go, Sasuke-kun!" Madara barked. He clapped his hands, formed a string of complicated hand-signs, and the air crackled with chakra. The mouths of the statues opened. A stream of blue light opened up between Madara and Sasuke and Sasuke was hit by a wave of excruciating pain. He felt like he was being ripped apart by wild beasts. He opened his lips to scream, but no sound came out.

He had one last thought before he was completely subsumed by the jutsu.

_Sakura, Naruto...there's still time...please find me..._

…_Forgive me..._

The world went black. Sasuke knew no more.

* * *

><p><em>Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading and please review:)<em>


	36. Chapter 36: Learn How To Die

Hey friends, back again with another update! You can really thank Loteva, maxridelover, ThriceJinxed, twinkletoast, and especially iluvinusessnar for the update:) In fact, I was going to update something else, and then I read iluvinusessnar's review, and I was like d'aw, got to update SoA!

So, here it is:) Hope you enjoy it! And if there is anyone out there who would like to beta the next chapter, please let me know:)

* * *

><p>Chapter 36: Learn How To Die<p>

_And as my lady bounced a baby on each knee,_

_we formed a little village in a grove of aspen trees._

_In peace we lived, for a very long time,_

_until refugees came again, of the old Uchiha line._

~The Third Book of Akash, Verse Two

Sakura was in Naruto's office, focusing on drawing in one shaky breath after another. Saki was at her side, supporting her mother on her shoulder; without her, Sakura would have crumpled to the floor.

"Damn it, Shino!" Naruto roared. "Are you sure the tracking seal isn't working?"

Shino took a deep breath. "Forgive me, Hokage-sama," he replied, his voice hardly audible. "It seems the seal is no longer operative."

Naruto went red in the face and turned toward the wall, trembling with anger. Sakura rose on shaky limbs, and put a hand on his back. "Naruto," she rasped, "stay calm. That's the only way we'll figure this out."

The Hokage turned to Sakura and looked like he was about to scream, but as soon as he saw Sakura's stricken expression, his rage deflated. He collapsed into a chair. "Bring me Shikamaru," he muttered to Shino. "I can't think straight right now." He shook his head slowly side to side before facing Sakura. "Sakura-chan, go home for now. Try to rest, if you can. Shikamaru and I will assemble some sort of plan, and I'll send out an entire legion of ANBU tonight to scour the countryside. We'll move out in the morning."

Sakura nodded, unable to lift her leaden gaze from the floor. Saki bit her lip as she picked up her younger brother from the floor, who was busy sticking discarded pens in his mouth. Saki removed the implements from his grubby fingers, slung him over her shoulder, and sighed. The walk home for the Uchiha family was sombre, and for once, Saki had nothing to say. Her mother dragged herself to her bedroom, leaving Saki to tuck the youngest Uchiha in for the night.

She entered Takeo's room without turning the light on and placed him in his crib.

"Ow! What the fuck!" Saki seethed, rubbing her forehead. It was too dark to see what she had just knocked into. Muttering curses under her breath, she fumbled for the light switch.

"Wow," she muttered, "that has got to be the ugliest mobile I've ever seen." She strode forward and rocked the paper mache, making the tiles bounce on their strings. Takeo cooed with delight. Saki rolled her eyes at the hideous work of art, but then, crept closer, suddenly intrigued.

"This looks like otousan's handwriting," she mused, peering at the puke-colored letters of the alphabet. "Why would otousan make something so ridiculous right before mysteriously disappearing?" She put her finger out again and sent the mobile spinning, and her eyes were accosted by bright red letters.

"Wait a minute..." Saki muttered. She activated her sharingan, and as the letters swirled above her brother's head, a word materialized from the crimson letters. Saki's eyes widened in surprise. "Mom!" she shouted, her voice high-pitched and shrill, "Mom! Come here, quick!"

Sakura stumbled into the bedroom, staring at her with bleary eyes. "Saki? What's wrong?"

Saki whirled around to face her mother. "Okaasan, who is Karin?"

* * *

><p>"God damn it, who is trying to bust down my door in the middle of the night," Karin grumbled, pulling the covers up other her head. "Ibiki," she muttered, her voice muffled by the blankets, "go and kill whoever is knocking."<p>

Ibiki rolled his eyes. "It's probably important, Karin-chan..."**  
><strong>"Fine. You go deal with it then. _I'm_ going back to sleep."

Ibiki grinned sadistically and yanked the covers off of Karin's head. "Oi! You fucking fascist!" Karin screeched. "It's probably for you _anyway—_leave me out of it!"

Ibiki ignored her protests and pulled her out of bed and towards the front door. "Kami forbid if you don't get all your beauty rest—you might become ugly!" he teased.

"IBIKI!" Karin was about to let him have it, but at that moment, the Hokage, closely followed by Sakura and her children, literally burst through the door. All traces of mirth left Karin and Ibiki's faces.

"Hokage-sama!" Ibiki bowed.

"Hokage-sama," Karin called gruffly. She had nothing but respect for this man. Before he had come to office, she had basically worked as Konoha's slave, and lived (read: rotted) in prison. But after Naruto came into power, he had put her on house arrest and began paying her an extremely generous wage for her work. Though he was a bit stupid, in her opinion, she truly admired him: he was like sunshine in this village, infusing light even to the deepest and darkest corners. Her corner being no exception.

Sakura looked at Karin darkly from under her red, swollen eyelids. "Karin," Sakura called in a hoarse voice, "Sasuke has disappeared. We haven't been able to locate him via any of his seals. But before he left the village, he made a mobile with your name on it and hung it over my son's crib. Ideas?" Sakura muttered tersely.

Karin blinked. "Listen, it's the middle of the night, and I haven't the faintest idea—"

"Well," Naruto barked, striding forward and looming over her, "start getting a clue."

Karin gulped. "Of course, Hokage-sama. It's just—do you have any other information? A mobile isn't a lot to go on," she muttered.

Saki spoke up. "Karin-san," she began in a tremulous voice, "I believe that since your name was floating above my brother's crib, there must be something about Takeo that only you can understand—at least, that is what I think my otousan thinks..." Saki took a deep breath, then peered up into Karin's wide red eyes. "Okaasan told me that you are an adept sensor; I think that's what otousan wanted you to do. Please, help my little brother?" she pleaded.

Karin's gaze softened at that. She shook her head and held out her hands for the child, took Takeo in her arms, and all but ran to her small office in the back of the house. "Listen," Karin snapped over her shoulder, "I personally couldn't care less if that bastard Sasuke is in danger. I'm only helping because I owe both Sakura-san and Naruto-san a huge debt. And because your daughter, Saki, seems to be a decent kid."

Sakura nodded. She really could blame Karin for her sentiment about Sasuke, who never did apologize or even talk to his former, estranged teammate after his return to Konoha. In fact, Sakura mused, she didn't think the two had had any contact _at all _these past ten years. And if it weren't for Sakura's superior medical training, Karin would have died long ago of heart failure, courtesy of a lightning blade from one, Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura silently thanked Kami that she, at least, had accrued good karma points with the red-headed research and development head.

"Please forgive Karin," Ibiki murmured to their guests, "she gets...extremely grumpy when woken up in the middle of the night."

Karin snorted and pretended to ignore him, while Takeo cooed up at his new holder and pulled on her long, red hair. Karin smiled despite her foul mood and placed the child on an examination table.

"I'll go ahead and take a look at his chakra network," Karin barked, "but I can't imagine I'll find anything that either Sakura or Naruto haven't seen..." Steadying the child with her hands, she closed her eyes and activated her chakra. After a few moments, a frown firmly etched itself on Karin's pale face.

"What is it, red-head?" Naruto asked, stepping closer to the table.

"Shut up—I'm trying to concentrate," Karin muttered before ignoring him completely. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Saki might have laughed to herself; as it was, she was staring into Karin's face intently, as if she could divine what Karin was thinking. Finally Karin rose and held out the child for Sakura to take; wordlessly she deposited the toddler in her arms and marched over to her filing cabinet.

"Karin-san?" Sakura ventured.

"Shhh." The red head pulled out a thick notebook and started flipping through it; she finally found a page, read for a moment, then snapped the book shut. "Sakura, take a blood sample from your son. I have to run down to the lab and procure some slides."

"I'll take you," Naruto offered as he stepped forward, "I have a kunai stashed at your lab."

"Eh, I'm going to throw up if you hiraishin us!" Karin wailed.

Saki slapped her face— this was the genius they were seeking out for help?— while Ibiki shot Karin _that_ look. Karin glared at Ibiki. Ibiki glared right back at Karin. After a moment, Karin finally sputtered, "_Fine._ We'll _hiraishin_ there. But if I throw up on your official Hokage shoes or whatever, don't come crying to me."

Naruto grinned wanly. "It's a risk I'm willing to take, Karin."

In a moment, Naruto and Karin winked out of the room, and Sakura turned to Ibiki. "Charming as always, I see. Ibiki-san, any idea where the blood drawing equipment is?"

"Of course," he replied gruffly as he procured a syringe and a glass vial. "Please excuse Karin. She becomes extremely agitated when _his_ name is mentioned."

Sakura blinked. "You mean...Sasuke?"

Ibiki nodded. "She would like nothing better than to kick him in the nuts until his balls fell off. And _I_ don't blame her."

"Ibiki! My daughter is standing _right here._"

Ibiki shrugged. Saki chirped, "It's okay okaasan, dad can be a real ass. He probably did something really rude to Karin-san. What, is Sasuke like an ex-boyfriend of hers?"

"Saki!" Sakura yelped in horror.

Ibiki merely chuckled. "Smart kid. Maybe you'll join the interrogation unit when you've grown, half pint; we can always use sharp minds in the Torture Force."

Saki bowed. "Thanks Ibiki-san, but I was really looking to go into something that combined espionage and medical skills..."

Ibiki clapped the youngster on the back. "But you see, you can combine those two talents perfectly in the Torture and Interrogation Force. For example..."

Sakura shook her head and ignored the other two as she drew blood from Takeo. He whimpered, but otherwise was extremely well behaved, considering. Just as she finished corking the vial, and as Ibiki was talking about the delights of using medical jutsu to torture enemy ninja, Naruto and Karin flashed back in. Karin looked green in the face and was hanging onto Naruto for dear life.

"Gah! I hope you appreciate what I'm doing, Naruto! Being woken up in the middle of the night, thrown about via nauseating jutsu— I see a pay raise in my near future," she grumbled as she steadied herself against the table. Regaining her composure as best as she could, she uncovered a microscope and began gazing at slides.

"Blood," Karin gestured with her free hand towards Sakura, without removing her red eyes from the lens of the microscope. Admiring Karin's focus, Sakura handed her the small vial of blood, which was quickly poured onto a slide and examined by the squinting researcher. "Sakura, come take a look at this." Karin finally met her gaze and gestured for her to look at the slide.

Slowly, Sakura approached the microscope and observed the blood. "It looks like the white blood cell count is low..." Sakura murmured. But there was something else too, something that looked familiar—but what was it?

Wordlessly, Karin switched out the slide of Takeo's blood for another. Sakura squinted and increased the magnification of the microscope. "This looks quite similar to the previous slide. Whose blood is this?"

Karin leaned against the wall and folded her arms across her chest. "Gomakashi. That fucking zombie that tried to decapitate me in the lab the other week."

"What?!" Sakura's head whipped up from the microscope to stare at Karin. Everyone else in the room was silent as Karin slid Takeo's slide next to Gomakashi's. "Sakura, keep looking. I'm about to activate the blood with chakra. Watch what happens." Sakura looked on in horror as both samples of blood began bubbling; the remaining white blood cells died on each slide, and then a purpled substance rose to the top of each.

"This is that poison..." Sakura whispered. "But how did my son...?"

"That isn't important right now," Karin snapped. "We need to administer the antidote to your son." She whirled around to regard everyone else in the room. "And we need to test everyone else to see if they've been infected by the virus, before this thing spreads like plague."

* * *

><p>Itachi nodded approvingly as Yuki demonstrated her knowledge of the new jutsu. "Good," he murmured, "I think you know the jutsu well."<p>

Yuki exhaled sharply, then channeled chakra into her palms to mend her broken, bleeding skin. "Thank you, Itachi-san." She rose, a bit wobbly on her feet, and asked, "What do I need to do next?"

He smiled at that. "You are eager to learn, and that is good. But the next part of the journey is difficult..."

"What are we going to do?"

"We're going to awaken your mangekyo sharingan."

Yuki blinked. "Em...it's already activated."

"No," Itachi shook his head, "you have _my_ old mangekyo, which will come into play when we use the jutsu I just taught you. But you'll need the kind of mangekyo that Aya possesses if you want to be able to travel inter-dimensionally."

At the mention of her name, Aya materialized from the aether. She bowed politely to Itachi and then turned to Yuki. "Are you ready, Yuki-chan?"

"Sure, but I don't know what I'm ready for..." Yuki spread her hands out, palms up, in a gesture of surrender. "Am I supposed to have _two_ mangekyo sharingan or something? That just seems like _overkill_ to me... I don't even want a mangekyo at all, let alone two!"

Aya and Itachi shared a look. "It's more like a modification on your current mangekyo," Aya finally replied. "And in order to achieve it..."

"You are going to have to die," Itachi finished for her.

Yuki's face turned ashen. "W-What...?"

Aya rolled her eyes. "Itachi, that was the _worst_ way to explain it."

"My apologies, Aya-sama," he replied in a monotone.

"Yuki, you're not going to die _per se_—you're going to remember all the deaths you've already had."

"You mean..." Yuki said, "like with Mukudori? I'm going to experience my _other_ past lives?"

Aya nodded, her face grave but kind. "But you're not _actually_ going to die. Okay? Trust me. You'll do just fine."

Yuki mused that this was going to be like jumping into a cold lake: you had to jump in quickly, without thinking about it, otherwise it would be a painfully slow process of adjusting to the water. "And if I want you to help me...?"

"I'll come running. All right?" Yuki nodded and Aya took her hand; Itachi's body dissolved into a myriad black wings which whorled like a great, feathered vortex. Suddenly, Aya pushed Yuki into the spinning darkness—

Yuki fell through space, through feathers, and stars, and darkness.

While she fell for what seemed like hours, she mused that she had already experienced Mukudori's death, and while the experience had been unpleasant and painful, it hadn't lasted all that long. But perhaps she'd had other lives where she had died long, horrible deaths? Kami, what could be worse than being stabbed to death by her fiance and then dying in the arms of her best friend? And on top of that, how many past lives did she have in the first place? She hoped it wasn't too many...

Then her thoughts stilled, and she felt herself transform into the body of a snake. There were no thoughts, no sounds, just sliding on the grass, slithering, eating, sleeping; but while she was lying in the sun, a hawk came and snatched her up from her rock. It pecked out her eyes and ate her flesh greedily, until there was nothing left of her green, scaled skin.

Yuki blinked, and now she became a bird, wheeling in the the clear sky. But the sky darkened and it began to storm. She tried to fly back to her nest in the driving rain, but the thunder startled her and the flashing lights confused her flight. She was struck down by lightning. Her body plummeted to the earth, burned feathers flurrying to the wet ground.

There were many short lives like that, mostly calm lives ended by quick deaths. But the endings were always met with new beginnings: she was a deer, a mountain lion, a lynx, and more, so many more, their lives flowing on and on and into each other in rapid succession. Eventually, her human lives began, and they were not as harmonious or simple.

She was a man, a prosperous baker in a village—a thief stabbed him in the chest and stole his money. The knife stung and burned, and Yuki could feel her body sinking to the floor, the blood ebbing out of her heart as if pulled by a final tide. But what hurt more than the knife was the reason for his death: he hadn't been killed for food, or in self defense, but for a few coins. A loaf of bread. This man died raging, in his heart, against the injustice that had been dealt to him.

But that was only the beginning of her bitter, human existences.

She became a woman whose lover strangled her when he found her in bed with another man; a young boy who slipped and fell into the river to drown; a soldier who was dismembered in battle; a baby who died in a house fire; an old woman who died of old age, surrounded by loved ones; a father who perished in an earth quake. On and on, the experiences of a myriad different lives filed her senses, like a series of lucid dreams. As they flowed over her consciousness, one question always remained.

What was the point of all this fruitless living? To die in such small, insignificant ways, only to be reborn to the next banal existence—to die at the hands of ignorant, rageful, hateful people, or to perish simply from the whims of fate. Bitterness and despair began to bloom in her heart.

More lives came, more vividly this time: she was a young girl, beaten to death by her father. Yuki could _feel_ the hateful kicks, the emotions of this girl as her screams faded to whimpers, and then finally melted into silence, the last question mumbled from her ashen lips: _Why?_

Then she was a mother, murdered together with all her children by enemies who had come to burn her village down. Her senses were full of the screams of the little children, the smell of burned flesh as they were barricaded in their burning house—how could people be so cruel? As they died, their little souls flew out of their bodies like startled birds; they found new incarnations and began another life together in a different constellations, over and over again. Here she died of a wasting illness, and there she died of a broken heart; in another life she died in a war, and in another, she perished from starvation.

The cycle of lives slowed, and Yuki had a sense that they were becoming closer to present time. She was a male child, born of the Hyuga clan; she was murdered for her eyes before she reached the age of six. She was born into the Hyuga family again, this time as a woman; she was killed in battle. And again she was born into the Hyuga clan, as a man who was strapped down to an operation table and experimented on, his doujutsu mutated and morphed until, his body racked with pain, his eyes became dyed red with three whirling commas on his irises. This man, like the life before him, died a gruesome death on the battlefield, his mutated eyes plucked, his body left on the field to be picked by black birds.

Time shimmered, waves of black birds screeched and covered Yuki's body with dark wings. When time resolved itself, she was Mukudori once more. Yuki braced herself; but instead of experiencing this death for the second time, her form split into two, as if she had created a shadow clone. Yuki felt herself in her own body, and she was looking across space at Mukudori. It was eerie, like staring into a skewed reflection.

"Yuki," Mukudori spoke in a soft, high voice, "there is one final death that you must witness."

"Um...hello me. Er, past me, I guess." Yuki ran a hand through her hair, more than a little discombobulated. After all, it wasn't everyday you died a thousand deaths in rapid succession. Yuki drew in a sharp breath and contemplated Mukudori's words before replying. "You mean, I'm not going to witness your death again?" Mukudori silently shook her head no. Yuki mused, "So...then I had another life between my current one and yours...er...I mean, mine?" Yuki asked, tongue tied. She thought to herself that this past life stuff was _really_ confusing.

Mukudori smiled sadly and shook her head. "No. You will experience the death you will have as yourself, as you are now... As Uchiha Yuki."

Yuki choked. "I don't want to die!" she gasped, fighting to regain her composure.

Mukudori chuckled at that, but not unkindly. "Haven't you learned by now, Yuki-chan, that you've already died many times, and will die again? You, as you are now—you will not stay the same, like some statue or stone carving. Your soul flows through forms and changes like water, flowing from the river to the ocean, then evaporating and raining back down to earth."

"But this will be different," Yuki muttered. "This will be _me—_and I don't want to see my own death."

"All the deaths you have seen have all been _you_...come now, it is time for you to see," Mukudori chided, and with that, she pushed Yuki away from her, and into a dark abyss.

As she fell, Yuki thought, idly to herself, that she was getting awfully tired of falling through darkness. As in response to her thought, all at once, a light pierced her body. When the light reached her eyes, she was shown many things at once: herself dying in battle against Uchiha Madara, her blood spilling out onto the earth, her mother screaming her name. She saw herself dying in a fire in palace, enemy ninja using her own fire jutsu against Yuki and trapping her in it. She fell in the chunin exams in the final matches, she had been cocky, had not taken her opponent from Mist seriously and he had taken advantage of that—

Many more disjointed scenes danced across her eyes, and she thought, mournfully, that these were all the future possibilities of her death.

Finally, one last image came to her, by far the worst of them all. Her younger brother, now a grown ninja, fought her. It was a harsh, bloody battle. The field in which they fought caught on fire, and smoke blackened the sky. But even so, Yuki held back, not wanting to kill her youngest brother. He used her hesitation towards his advantage, and Yuki ended up with his sword running through her breast. She smelled smoke and charred flesh, she felt the cold metal, laced with lightning, protruding from her torso, and she gaped up at her brother in horror.

"How could you...?" Yuki gasped, blood coughing up from her lungs.

Her brother merely shrugged. "I need your eyes. That is all." And with that, he pried her eyes from her still warm body. Yuki couldn't even scream—she was choking on her own blood. The whole world went black.

_NO! This CAN'T be happening!_ How could this be the future, killed by her own brother for her eyes? _FUCK NO!_

The world became a fiery place of pain. She could feel her body burning, as if she had just been cast into the deepest pits of hell. She was sure she was screaming, but she couldn't hear a sound; it was all deathly silent, and burning, burning, oh Kami, she was burning but nothing was consumed, no, she just continued to burn—

"Yuki." All at once, the pain stopped. Yuki gasped, amazed to find that she could breathe. Shaking, she looked up from the ground and up into Aya's face. Apparently, she had collapsed on the ground; Aya helped her up. "Show me your eyes..." Aya said.

Slowly, Yuki opened them; Aya gave a grunt. "Good. You are now ready to learn how to travel the worlds."

Yuki took a deep breath. "That—that was _horrible._"

Aya nodded in apology. "I know. Forgive me. But now that you know the secret of death, you can overcome the separation between time and space. It was necessary..."

"Aya-sensei? I saw...I saw so many of my future deaths. Tell me, which one will happen?"

Aya shrugged, and lifted her hands, palms up, as if to signify that she did not hold the answers. "The future is constantly changing and shifting in response to the present. Know that you have the power to change your future."

Yuki gulped. "I saw—"

"Hush. You mustn't tell anyone what you've seen, not this or any of the things you've experienced," Aya replied with urgency. "It is between you and your spirits."

Yuki sighed at that, feeling alone and bewildered. She blinked, and then remembered the purpose of this trial. "What do my eyes look like?" Yuki asked, curious.

Aya smiled. "The constellation of the mangekyo looks the same. But unlike the one you inherited from Itachi, the light of this eye won't fade if you use it to protect, and not to kill. You must never kill unless it is strictly necessary, and only then to protect someone else... Do you understand? If you violate this rule, then you will go blind."

"Like my father," Yuki mused.

"Yes. Like your father."

"I see." Yuki ran a hand through her hair and exhaled sharply. "Ok. Well, no time to waste. What's next?"

Aya laughed at that. "Summon Tama. She will be your next teacher."

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><p><em>Thanks for reading:) Please, if you like this story, drop me a review and make me smile;)<em>


	37. Chapter 37: The Mission Begins

Hi dears! Sorry for the delay in updating. It's my intention to finish this fic this summer, so hold onto your hats! It's going to be a fun ride:)

Thanks for all your reviews and kind PM's, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

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><p>Chapter 37: The Mission Begins<p>

"Ino, can't you remember anything else about Yuki's jutsu?" Sakura wiped her clammy brow, cursing the small, stifling hospital room. Sakura hadn't slept well the night before, not after what she had learned at Karin's house, and by now her patience was wearing thin. Thank the gods, no one else was infected with the chakra virus, but unfortunately, Karin had _no_ idea how to fully cure Takeo. They had administered a physical antidote, but according to Karin's theory, the injection would only last for so long.

Sakura bit her lip, trying and failing to stay calm. According to Karin, there needed to be some kind of healing on the chakra level to complete the healing; however, the only person who knew how to do this jutsu was Yuki. And Yuki was gone.

Ino exhaled sharply. "Let me go through the memory again..." she answered, closing her eyes. Sakura began to pace. Thank Kami Ino had been the one to probe Yuki's mind about the strange ninja who had healed Yuki's injuries. However, this information wouldn't do any good if they didn't know how to do it themselves. Sakura could feel her stomach clench with anxiety as she waited for Ino's answer.

Ino opened her eyes and shook her head. "It's the same thing every time, Sakura-chan. Yuki was able to _see_ some kind of light around her body, and that's what that enemy ninja worked on to heal Yuki. But when I look at Takeo, I don't see any light around his body. I don't see _anything_!"

Sakura didn't pause in her pacing. Naruto was going to leave soon on the mission, and if she wanted to accompany him, she needed to figure this out _now_. Of course, she could always catch up with the group via one of Naruto's hiraishining clones, but Sakura was anxious to join the group from the very beginning. She was so worried about Sasuke, it knotted her stomach and made her mouth go dry.

She felt like she was going to worry herself into an early grave: between Yuki running away, Sasuke's disappearance, and Takeo's mysterious illness, she swore she was about to have a fit. Sakura gnashed her teeth. It was all too much for her to handle.

Ino strode over to the window and regarded the rising sun. "I just feel like we're missing something here," Ino muttered. "Something painfully _obvious..."_

Just then, Saki burst through the door, her pink hair forming a frizzy halo around her head. "Mom!" she cried, unshed tears shining in her eyes. "You have to let me go with you on the mission!"

Sakura whirled around and slammed her fist into the nearest wall, denting the plaster. Takeo, who had been sleeping soundly in the crib, woke with a start and whimpered. "Absolutely not," Sakura shouted, her eyes flashing with anger and with fear. "For the last time, I _forbid_ you from leaving this village."

"But okaasan—"

"NO. Stop asking me, Saki! I can't handle it!" Sakura looked like she was ready to pull her hair out.

"No mom! You _will_ listen to me. I'm a valuable asset to your expeditionary party."

"Saki—" Sakura practically growled.

But Saki ignored her mother's warning tone. "I've been practicing my medical ninjutsu like crazy this past week," she pleaded. "I've been drilled in it, like, fourteen or fifteen hours a day, and I'm really _good_ mom!"

Sakura turned away from her daughter and covered her face with her hands. Saki took a gulping breath and, before her mother could retort, continued.

"And what's more, I'm the only Uchiha with a sharingan who hasn't gone missing! I know I'm new at it and I haven't had much practice, but pair me with Kakashi-sensei, and we'll be unstoppable!"

Ino turned around and looked at Saki, as if for the first time. "Sharingan..." she murmured. She had forgotten the young Uchiha had awakened her ocular jutsu only a few days ago.

Ino's musings were completely ignored by Sakura who still faced the wall, her shoulders trembling. She replied to Saki in a gravelly voice, "Saki-chan, I've already lost your otousan and your sister. I couldn't bear losing you too. You _will_ stay in the village."

"Mom," Saki wailed, "why can't you _see_ that I can help bring otousan back?"

Ino pursed her lips in thought. "Sharingan..._see_..."

"Saki, absolutely _not._" Sakura shook with emotion, and only with a vast, concerted effort was she able to speak again. "And that's _final." _

"Oh Spirits! That's it, that's it! How could I have forgotten, Saki—you have the _sharingan!"_

"Well, duh," Saki muttered, still glaring at her mother's back. She had only received it very recently as a traumatic parting gift from her sister, but Saki didn't think it was _that_ easy to overlook her awesome doujutsu.

"Just because she has a sharingan doesn't mean she can go on the mission, Ino!" Sakura shouted, spinning around to finally face Ino and Saki. "Geez, are you insane?"

"No, Sakura! No! Takeo! The medical jutsu! The sharingan!"

Sakura blinked. "What are you raving about, Ino?"

Ino laughed then, the harsh, grating sound of it drawing everyone's attention. "It's what we've overlooked all along! When Yuki healed Konohamaru, she had her sharingan activated! Saki, activate your eyes and take a look at your brother."

Saki's mouth was shaped in an 'O' of surprise. Wordlessly, she activated her doujutsu. But as she gazed at her brother, she said, "I don't see anything. What am I _supposed_ to see?"

"Okay Saki, I'm going to put my hand on your head and give you two memories: one is from Yuki, as she was being healed; the other is my own memory of when Yuki healed Konohamaru-sensei. Ready?"

Saki nodded and Ino placed her hand on the girl's head. After a long, tense silence, Saki's eyes snapped open. She regarded her brother, who had stopped crying and was looking at her quizzically. "Oh. Oooooooh! There's like, this black stuff... Huh. I wonder if..." Saki mumbled as she raised her hands. In a minute, Takeo was bathed in a glowing light that only Saki could see.

Ino and Sakura looked at each other, and then back at Saki's hands; they couldn't see a blessed thing, but it looked like Saki was busy doing _something._ Finally, Saki stood back from Takeo, and, breathing heavily, grinned from ear to ear. "See mom, Ino, I totally rock! The chakra virus is officially gone!" she beamed.

"Call in Karin!" Sakura roared. "Now!"

Not long afterwards, a grumpy, sleep deprived Karin, accompanied by an impatient Hokage, confirmed what Saki already knew: Takeo was one hundred percent recovered.

"Yosh! That's wonderful, Saki!" the Hokage roared, clasping her on the back.

"Does this mean I can go on the mission now?" Saki asked, hope gleaming in her eyes.

"Absolutely not, sweetie," Sakura answered as she scooped Saki up in a crushing hug.

Naruto laughed and turned to Karin. "Are you sure the virus is gone?"

Karin nodded. "I can't sense it at all now."

"One thing I still don't understand," Naruto mused, "is how _you_ could sense the virus, but I couldn't at all, not even in Sage Mode. What's up with that?"

"It's elementary my dear Hokage," Karin replied with a chuckle. "When you sense chakra, you are used to looking for things that are _alive_. People, plants, animals—things that use nature energy as the source of their qi. However, by definition, a virus is not alive."

Naruto scratched his head. "Um..."

"You see, Hokage-sama, a virus is not like a bacteria; bacteria are living beings. But a virus is not a living entity. It is a complicated assembly of molecules that passively multiply inside a host's living cells. Whoever created this virus must have known your blind spot and created this poison accordingly. Myself, on the other hand, well, I'm a sensory ninja who has dedicated herself to science for the past twenty years. It's my business to understand both living and dead matter, and how they interact, so I can formulate—"

"Oh Kami, Karin!" Naruto bellowed in the midst of her lecture that he did not understand at all, "I'm so _happy_ that you work for Konoha!" And with that, he flung his arms around the helpless scientist, who merely squeaked in surprise.

Sakura chortled and bounced her son in her arms. "Karin-chan," she began, "we are deeply indebted to you. After this whole debacle is over, maybe you could teach me a thing or two. We could really use someone like you at the hospital, if you'd be willing."

Karin blushed from the praise and replied, gruffly, "We'll see. But right now, don't you have some asshole who potentially needs rescuing?"

Sakura laughed at that, her first moment of happiness in days. It seemed like things were finally starting to look up. "Saki," Sakura called to her daughter as she handed her Takeo, "go to Hinata's and be good. We'll see you soon."

Saki exhaled hotly. "Be careful, okaasan. And if you need me..."

"Stay in the village, apple of my eye," Sakura replied with a wide smile. She kissed the top of her daughter's head and looked up at Ino and Karin. "You ladies coming?"

"Hell yeah!" Ino exclaimed. "I think Choji-kun is already waiting for us in Naruto's office along with Shika and Temari!" Ino fisted the air; the enthusiasm from their first victory over the chakra virus, and by association, their mysterious enemy, filled everyone with optimism.

"Wait, wait! _I _didn't want to come on this mission!" Karin wailed.

"But we need you, Karin-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Who else can figure out all this really complicated chakra stuff!"

"BUT—"

"As your Hokage, I _insist _that you come with us!" Naruto interjected, flashing Karin a good-natured grin.

The laughing adults—minus Karin, who was wailing— filed out of the room. Silence fell. Saki looked at Takeo, who cooed up at her and drooled on her shoulder. The genin sighed. "Like hell I'll stay in the village, Takeo-chan. Like _hell_ I will."

#

But not one of the adults heard the genin's vehement promise as they left the hospital and made their way to the Hokage's office. Sakura's spirits had been lifted: her son was safe. Now, it was just a matter of locating her idiot husband and her idiot first born daughter. _We can do it!_ Sakura thought with newfound conviction. She was the last to enter Naruto's office, and she was surprised to see Hinata standing by the window, looking about as nervous as a genin before an exam.

"Oi, Hinata-chan, I just sent Saki and Takeo to your place," Sakura called. "We really owe you. Thanks for offering to look after the kids..."

Hinata's cheeks colored. "It's nothing. After all, Neji-niisan is a much more talented byakugan user than I to have on your team. I'm happy to watch after the children and to help Tsunade-sama with managing the village from here." Hinata tilted her head to the side and looked closely at Sakura. "Something is different about you though, Sakura-chan. It's like you're glowing."

"Oh, I'm just happy that Takeo-chan is all right!" Sakura replied with a nervous grin.

"Just let me..." Hinata activated her byakugan and peered at Sakura, then gasped. "Sakura-chan, you shouldn't go on this mission!"

"What?" Sakura cried. I _have_ to go!"

"But Sakura," Hinata continued in a hushed whisper, "you're…you're…p-p-pregnant."

"WHAT! But that's..." Sakura was about to say that it was impossible. But then she thought back to two nights ago and her cheeks flushed. Sakura had been so taken aback by Sasuke's advances that she had completely _forgotten_ to use any contraceptives, either before or after. "That asshole!" Sakura shrieked, slamming her fist down on the wall. "I'm going to kill him when I find him!"

Everyone stared at Sakura. "Er..." Naruto began, "is everything okay?"

Sakura rounded on Naruto, her cheeks an angry beet red. "Everything is NOT okay! Oh gods," she moaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I can't believe it."

Hinata's forehead was creased with worry. She laid a hand on Naruto's arm and whispered, "Naruto-kun, Sakura is pregnant. I don't think she should go on this mission—it's dangerous for the child."

"What!" Naruto yelped. "How can you tell?"

"A woman's chakra system changes as early as the first hour of conception," she murmured, heat rushing to her face. Because Hinata and Naruto had been earnestly trying to conceive for the past two years, Hinata had made it her business to know even the slightest variations in her own chakra and hormones as they related her cycle, and thus, the times when she was fertile. She easily recognized these patterns in her friend.

Sakura took a deep, shuttering breath. "Listen," she muttered, "right now the baby is an itty bitty bunch of cells. I'm _going_ on this mission, and when I find Sasuke, I am _kicking_ his ass." Sakura turned towards Hinata and asked, incredulously, "How did you even think to look, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata turned a deep, deep shade of crimson. "Well you see, I, um, was thinking about it...because, um, I just conceived as well...and I could just..._tell..._" she finished lamely.

"Hinata-chan—you're _what?"_ Naruto shouted. He leapt over the desk and smothered Hinata in an embrace.

As the room erupted into laughter and joyful cries, Shikamaru shook his head. He was glad that the mood of the mission had switched from, 'I'm so melancholic I could bludgeon myself to death', to 'I'm so happy I could cry,' but truly, now was _not_ the time or place for a ruckus.

Shikamaru clapped his hands and hollered for everyone's attention. "People, let's brief for the mission, and when we all come back _alive,_ then you can throw these two a baby shower." Much to his chagrin, there was much applause after he mentioned a potential baby shower, but eventually everyone got a hold of themselves.

"Here's the plan," Shikamaru said with a weary sigh. "We've received intel from the ANBU that Sasuke is most likely by the Akash mountain range. We haven't been able to narrow down the search area much more than the general area where Yuki herself disappeared. Naruto thinks that Sasuke left to find Yuki..."

Here Shikamaru paused; what he was going to say next was going to kill everyone's happy buzz. "However, I find that theory unlikely for two reasons: one, he left without permission and without telling anyone he was leaving. For an agoraphobic man like Sasuke, that kind of behavior is highly suspect. And second—"

"His hirashin _and_ ANBU tracking seals have both been removed," Naruto finished darkly.

Shikamaru nodded. "Even if Sasuke had the ability to do so, he would have never attempted to disable seals he begged to have been put into place."

"What if he was somehow taken by those people who kidnapped Yuki?" Kiba barked from the crowd. At his side, Lee nodded his head in vehement agreement.

But Shikamaru shook his head. "Let me finish. First of all, Yuki _ran away_. But the fact that she disappeared in the same spot where our sources tell us Sasuke ran off to is highly suspect. But here's the thing: that area is a two to three day journey from here, unless one is using the hiraishin. When we checked the area, there were definitely suspicious signs which pointed to the fact that Sasuke is being held there—"

"What signs are you talking about, Shikamaru?" Sakura asked in a quavering voice.

Shikamaru met her gaze. "Sasuke ostensibly left Konoha yesterday morning; however, the ANBU found traces of him last night in the Akash Mountain Range. It takes at least two days to travel to that area—Sasuke made it in one..."

"He was using a transport jutsu," Neji answered. "Or—a teleport jutsu."

Ominous silence fell. Shikamaru cleared his throat. "Shino's insects checked every inch of that area: not only did he find traces of chakra that only Uchihas possess, but he also found traces of a teleport jutsu—Uchiha Madara's teleport jutsu."

Sakura's knees gave out, but Hinata, who was standing beside her, caught her before she could fall. Before anyone could interrupt, Shikamaru pressed on, "Many of you were already aware of our suspicions that Madara had returned; I regret to inform you that it is now quite obvious. It's likely he has either Sasuke, Yuki—or both."

"Both? What...? But how?" Sakura rasped, her pupils dilated in fear.

With a frown, Shikamaru began to pace in front of the Hokage's desk. The Hokage himself was silent, his lips set in a thin line. "I'm sorry that not all of you were informed sooner. Before last night, we merely had suspicions..." He looked at Sakura. "With all the upheaval of the past few weeks, there's been a serious break in communication. Let me amend that now.

"Karin has been doing extensive studies on the poison that originally killed Uzumaki Ryuu and wounded Sarutobi Konohamaru. It seems as though the virus is somehow based on the DNA of the first Hokage, Senju Hashirama; we believe Madara has accomplished this via a mutation on Zetsu's jutsu. Unlike a Zetsu clone which replicates another person's chakra, instead the Zetsu virus, if you will, infects a person's chakra system until at last, they become a reanimated corpse controlled by Madara."

"Are you saying that my daughter and husband have become _zombies_?" Sakura asked incredulously, her face ashen.

Shikamaru looked away. "That. Or worse."**  
><strong>"What the hell could be worse than having my family turned into _zombies_? Shikamaru?" Sakura howled.

Shikamaru exhaled sharply and looked Sakura in the eye. "I stayed up all night, compiling the data, running every single situation through my head—and I'd say there's a seventy-five percent chance that Madara is trying to use their bodies as a host."

"Hosts for _what?_" Sakura replied, horrified.

His dark eyes bored into her own. "For Madara's spirit."

Sakura's eyes rolled back in her head, but this time Naruto was there to catch her before she fell. He regarded the room gravely and said, "I have five shadow clones who have been gathering Nature Chakra. It should be enough to hiraishin everyone to the battlefield. This is a rescue mission: we are going to retrieve Sasuke and Yuki-chan. But I'm warning you, the ANBU found many reanimated corpses, each equipped with poisoned-laced weapons.

"Grandma Tsunade will be here soon with enough antidotes for everyone, but she hasn't perfected the second stage of the antidote. What will be in your hypodermic needles will only be enough for about two or three days before you'll need second stage healing, which so far only Uchiha Yuki and Uchiha Saki have managed to perform. And in Takeo's case, the virus had not advanced beyond the first stage. I'm not sure what we can do for a full blown infection…"

"So you're saying, Hokage-sama," Choji broke in, "that if we get hit severely, we are pretty much doomed."

Naruto winced. "Yeah, pretty much. And one more thing..." Naruto paused. "We're fairly certain we're walking right into a trap"

"What! Naruto—seriously?" Kiba yelped.

"He's right," Shikamaru said. "We've had ANBU stationed all the way between here and Akash ever since the failed mission to retrieve Uchiha Yuki. Tell me why this is the _first_ time we've caught even a whiff of Madara—the first time our ANBU have run into his zombies."

Sakura shook herself out of her terrified stupor and cleared her throat. "He wants us to come after him? But why?"

Karin, who had been silent so far, spoke up. "I know from personal experience that Madara enjoys a good show. Let me explain," she added hurriedly when some shot her looks that ranged from withering to incredulous. "Madara, by virtue of his eternal mangekyo sharingan, is immortal. He. Can't. Die. Do you have any idea how boring things are when you can't die? Well, I don't either..." Karin laughed nervously before continuing, "But I remember from my brief association with the man that he liked a good fight; to put it bluntly, he liked to mess with people. In the last war, he wanted to collect the tailed beasts; well, Madara had multiple chances to collect the Nine-tails—excuse my phrasing, Hokage-sama—but instead, he opted to draw out things and let Sasuke fight him instead."

"What are you getting at, Karin?" Sakura asked in a hoarse voice.

Karin shrugged. "He's probably going to mess with us, just like I said. He's going to engage our forces in Akash, and then probably attack the village."

"How can you be so nonchalant about all this?" Kiba roared, rounding on Karin. He had little patience for someone who was _not_ originally from Konoha talking about its impending destruction in the same banal tone one would discuss the weather.

"Kiba? Shut up," Shikamaru commanded. "Karin-san is correct. Some of us are going to go after Sasuke, while the bulk of our forces are going to remain here to protect the village. Please listen carefully: Naruto, Sakura, Neji, Kiba, Ino, Choji and Karin will be going to Akash. The rest of us will take up positions in and around the village. Those stationed farthest away will be taken via hiraishin and given kunai with hiraishin seals. Any questions? Good. Lee-san, with your speed, would you mind delivering mission scrolls to all the jonin and chunin not assembled here? Take special care to deliver Konohamaru's scroll to him as soon as possible: he's to watch over the members of Team Five to make _sure_ that they do not leave the village, under any circumstances."

At that moment, Tsunade burst through the door, her face grim. "Everyone, take the antidote with you, regardless of your position; one per person please, except for those of you going to Akash—I'd take a few if I were you..."

#

Outside of the Hokage's office, a trembling Saki began sneaking away from the meeting. After hearing all of that classified information, her resolve was firmer than ever: she _would_ leave the village, and she _would_ take the rest of her team as back-up. But first things first. She had to get the scroll for Konohamaru out of Lee's grasp, modify it, and give it back to Lee—because if she didn't get their sensei out of her hair, they were doomed.

Luckily though, she had already pilfered a dozen or so hypodermic needles with the antidote inside of them. At least that part was taken care of.

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><p><em>Ass-kicking to commence soon:) Thanks for reading and please review!<em>


	38. Chapter 38: Crazy Enough to Work

Hey guys, thanks for waiting! I hope you enjoy the next chapter:)

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><p>Chapter 38: Crazy Enough to Work<p>

After a parting kiss to Kiba and an admonition for him to stay safe in Akash, Lee strode with determination down the street, a collections of scrolls under his arm. "First things first!" Lee exclaimed. "I've got to visit Konohamaru and give him his mission assignment!" Just as he was about to speed away, he heard a most pitiful cry.

"Oi, Lee-san, please help me!" It sounded like a young girl. "I think I've broken my leg!"

Lee blinked. On one hand, he had an important mission to carry out; on the other, a child was in trouble. It would be most unyouthful to refuse to help! He should, at the very least, see what the matter was. "Where are you?" he called, hoping he could deal with the matter quickly.

"I'm over here," wailed the child, "behind the big oak tree!"

"I will save you! And if I don't, I will punish myself with one-thousand push-ups!" the green ninja bellowed. But as he rounded the tree, he saw a curious sight. "Saki-chan, is that you? Your leg doesn't look very broken to me..."

Saki's gaze snapped up to meet his. Lee had a moment to consider her whirling, sharingan eyes, before he passed out cold, landing with a thump under the tree.

Saki snorted. "That was too easy, Lee-san..." She took the scroll marked for Konohamaru out of his hands, and procured from her pack a quill and a bottle of ink. "Now, let's see how well I can forge Naruto's handwriting..."

#

"Tama?" Yuki called in disbelief as her summons materialized from the aether. "How can you be here too?"

Tama purred and rubbed her face on Yuki's shoulder. Behind her, Aya chuckled. "I suppose with all the excitement, we never did tell you the story of the summons."

Tama tilted her head and grinned. "In the beginning, there were only nin cats, many of whom were affiliated with the Uchiha. But when Madara achieved his eternal mangekyo—" here Tama spat on before continuing, "—he created cat summons from the nin cats through a genetic mutation."

"But what's the difference?" Yuki asked.

"Unlike nin cats, we are capable of traveling interdimensionally," Tama replied, puffing out her chest with pride.

"You two have talked about this interdimensional traveling thing a lot, and to be honest—I don't get it," Yuki grumbled.

Tama chuckled. "Hop on Yuki-chan, I'll explain while we travel."

With just a hint of trepidation, Yuki threw herself onto Tama's back. All at once, they floated through thick clouds, orange and pink like a sunset. The space was full of light, but she couldn't see much more than the vague outline of clouds. "This is the highest level that we'll be traveling through," Tama said, her voice sounding thin and airy. "Activate your sharingan."

Yuki did so and gasped: whereas before there had been nothing but diffuse light, now she saw an infinite number of shifting forms. They looked like shadowy birds flying through the clouds. Yuki mused, briefly, that the quality of the light here was akin to starlight: flickering, cold, but _alive_ in a strange sense, as if the light was somehow breathing.

"Do you see them, Yuki-chan?" Tama said. "Those are the souls that hover above the earth. Some are on their way to the outer realms, where we cannot pass, and some are returning to earth." Yuki, too stunned to answer, stared the forms of light, moving in waves like schools of glinting fish.

"It's beautiful," Yuki whispered.

"Now hold on tight and watch what I do, because when you fight Madara, you'll have to fight him alone."

Yuki's hands gripped Tama's fur tightly. "What? Why can't you fight with me?"

Tama grimaced. "Madara has the key to our cellular structure—he can kill cat summons with just the blink of his eye. He's already murdered many of my clan..." the feline trailed off, sorrow tinging her voice.

"I'm so sorry," Yuki murmured.

"I am too," Tama replied gruffly. "That's why Amaya and myself are the only two cat summons available right now: Madara killed off the rest of our fighters..."

"Wait—Tama, are you Aya's summon too?"

Tama nodded. "We're about to hit the gate. Pay attention!" They approached a portal of blue light, pulsing like water reflecting the light of the moon. When they passed through it, the world around them shimmered and dissolved. After a sinking, lurching sensation, they found themselves in a land that had no sun or moon, though it was bright, and the colors were more saturated and _real_ than anything Yuki had seen on earth.

"This is the land of dreams," Tama instructed, "where the spirits of the next world and souls of the living sometimes mingle. But we're not going to stay here long. We're going to go straight to earth."

Yuki really had a hard time grasping what, exactly, Tama meant by that, but she had no time to question as they approached another portal. This time, the circular light was silver, swirling like the eye of a storm. As they approached, they were pulled through by its force. Wind whipped back her hair and howled in her ears—then suddenly, they stopped, standing still in a shadowy world. Yuki blinked until her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and saw a familiar scene.

The moon hung low in the sky, and its pale light illuminated a scrub clearing. Yuki looked out towards the horizon and saw lolling mountains rolling until they met the sea. "Is this...?"

Tama nodded. "We're back in Akash. I'm in my full, physical form, but not you—you've left your body behind in the village. Regardless, I'm going to teach you how to phase in and out of this dimension. You'll be able to replicate the technique once you're back in your body."

Yuki squinted. "Tell me, why couldn't we travel dimensions when we were running away from that psycho with the arrows...back when..." She was going to say, 'back when Ryuu died', but she couldn't manage to get the words out.

Tama shook her head. "It would have killed you. You need to go through this kind of training first before you can phase out of time and space like I can. I'm sorry." Tama sighed and bowed her head.

Yuki exhaled sharply. "It doesn't matter, Tama-chan. Let's do this." She balled her hands into fists, strengthening her resolve to master the last jutsu she would need to finally finish her training.

#

Sasuke blinked. Where was he? For so long, it had just been darkness and pain, his soul truncated and his body invaded by Madara. But as he looked around him, he saw that he was in a world filled with light, though there was no sun or moon hanging in the sky, only the cold stars winking above.

"Sasuke?"

At the sound of his name, he whirled around to see his mother standing in a cool, green field. She looked just as she had when Sasuke's was young: her cheeks shone with silver light, and her eyes were dark. She smiled and took his nerveless hand in hers.

"Okaasan—am I dead?" he managed, despite the tightness in his chest.

Mikoto's smile turned sorrowful. "Almost, my son. Almost..." As she led him away from the clearing towards the mountainside, Sasuke marveled at how warm her hand felt in his_._ His eyes filled with tears of relief: finally, he was dead. He could be with his family again, leave the burdens from his life behind and regain everything he had lost as a child...

They traveled up a narrow path, their footsteps so light, they barely touched the earth. It was almost like floating. They were silent for some time, until Sasuke finally ventured, "I missed you, okaasan..."

Mikoto paused in her stride and kissed him on the cheek. "I missed you too, Sasuke-chan. Though I've always been looking over you. Don't you remember what I used to tell you about the dead?"

"Of course," he replied in a hoarse voice. "They become stars and watch over their friends and family..." Sasuke's heart felt light in his chest. His mother regarded him warmly, and he swore the light glinting in her eyes looked like starlight, cool, beautiful, with the promise of wishes and their fulfillment. Now Sasuke could become a star, cold and remote and untroubled, in a constellation of his family. He smiled widely.

"Don't be so pleased to die, Sasuke-chan," she murmured, and now Sasuke could see the sorrow clearly etched on her face. "You still have family on earth that need tending to..."

The truth hit him like a smack to the face. In this strange world, so brilliantly bright but dark at the same time, had he really forgotten about Sakura? And Yuki, Saki, and Takeo? Gods, he was such a bastard.

But she had no time to say anything more, because the slope they had been climbing plateaued, and before him stood a large gathering of shadows. Sasuke's breath hitched in his throat—

Everyone was there.

Fugaku emerged from the crowd, accompanied by Itachi. "Son," he intoned, his voice both warm and sad, "forgive us."

All around, the shadows shifted, and a thousand eyes looked at him, black and red and gleaming, shimmering like red stars. Sasuke met father's gaze and wept—he was the one who should be asking for forgiveness, not his father.

Itachi stepped forward and raised Sasuke's chin up, forcing him to look into his eyes. "Sasuke. Madara is going to pull you back to earth soon."

"What? But I thought I was...?" He wanted to say _dead,_ but the word died on his lips. He wasn't sure what death was, if his family and clan were all here, alive, in this bright place.

Itachi shook his head. "Madara wants you to watch as he attempts to murder your family and destroy Konoha from the vessel of your body."

"Kami! I'm such a fool," Sasuke rasped, averting his gaze, the gravity of his mistake weighing down on him all at once.

Itachi placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Foolish little brother, stop blaming yourself. This was how it was meant to be. Now listen closely: when you see me again, you must fight Madara with all your strength. You can do this, Sasuke. You can finally kill Uchiha Madara and put all of our souls to rest."

"But ...what do I do?" Sasuke asked in a small voice.

However, just then the shadowy souls turned into crows, and Sasuke started falling, back into the familiar, burning darkness. Pain seared him and he parted his lips in a silent cry.

From the corners of his mind, he could hear Madara whispering, _Don't die yet Sasuke. Stay here while I consume you and yours, yes, yes! Almost finished now..._ And then, the numb darkness overtook his mind and he knew no more.

#

Sakura grit her teeth, her brow beading with sweat. Beside her, Ino and Karin were looking equally green in the face. The rest of their team, Neji, Kiba, and Choji, didn't look much better off. Only Naruto seem unaffected from the hiraishin ride as he looked around him, his senses sharp, his eyes outlined in orange— a sure sign that he was in Sage Mode.

"Hokage-sama," Shino buzzed as he materialized from a cloud of bugs. "We've narrowed in on Sasuke's location. However—"

"That's great Shino—where are they?" Naruto interrupted, ready for action.

Sakura pushed Naruto out of the way and asked, "However _what,_ Shino?"

Expressionless, Shino replied, "_However_, their location is surrounded by hundreds of edo tensei. They are all armed with various projectiles."

Naruto clenched his fists. "Karin, I want you to use your sensory techniques to find a possible back entrance to this location; Neji, keep your eyes open and join Shino up front. Kiba and Choji guard the rear. Ino, stick by me. Let's go!"

As they zeroed in, Neji hissed and motioned for them all to stop. "I count about five hundred reanimated corpses guarding some sort of cave," he hissed.

"Neji, can you see inside the cave?" Naruto shot back.

The Hyuga nodded. "Hold on. I see one person inside, but it's hard to tell who it is...they have this horrible light all around them, and their chakra is fluctuating wildly. What in the world...?"

"Neji, what is it?" Kiba grunted, anxious to know what they were walking into.

"It's like...it's like one body has two chakra signatures that are trying to mash into each other. I'm not really sure what's going on."

"Is it Sasuke?" Sakura demanded.

Neji motioned for them to be quiet as he strained his eyes to see. "The chakra is extremely unstable—it's impossible to get a proper reading. Would Sasuke have anything on him to identify—"

Sakura shoved her left hand in front of Neji's face. "He'll have a ring like mine, with the Uchiha crest. Can you see that?"

Neji pushed her hand out of the way and peered back at the cave. He did not respond for a long time as the veins around his forehead bulged and beads of sweat ran down his face. "Confirmation on the wedding ring. It's him," Neji finally answered, his voice grim.

"Karin!" Naruto ordered. "What can you sense? I can't sense a single thing past all those zombies."

The Karin nodded and closed her eyes, snapping open again in a moment. "It's Madara. I'm sure of it—no one else has such vile chakra. He's taking over," she replied, sotto voce. She put a hand on Sakura's trembling shoulder.

Naruto slammed a fist down onto the cold ground. "Karin, is there a back entrance?"

She shook her head. "The damn place is entirely surrounded by reanimated corpses. We're going to have to fight our way through. But remember, there's only one way to kill these guys, and that's to completely remove the heart, and even then you have to either incinerate it or smash it." She grimaced.

"Great!" Naruto cried, "What are we waiting for? Let's go smash some zombies!"

"Wait!" Karin shouted, grabbing Naruto by the collar before he could zoom off. "There's one important thing you have to remember—their blood carries the parasite!" Karin moaned. "Did you _not_ pay attention at all in the briefing? You can't get too much of that stuff on your skin!"

Ino rested her forehead on Choji's shoulder, her eyes lined with worry. "How the hell are we going to kill those guys?"

Naruto grinned deviously. "We don't. We distract them and _then_ kill them."

#

"Saki," Hoshiko moaned, "I think this is the worst idea you've ever cooked up. We can't leave the village, and we certainly can't go to Akash! In case you weren't paying attention, there's a zombie army heading this way, and we're supposed to protect the village!"

Cho shook her head. "I can't believe you altered sensei's mission scroll, sending him with the patrol to the outskirts of the village. Saki, you could get in a lot of shit for doing that..." the older girl murmured reproachfully.

"Guys! Don't you _get_ it? My sister and father are going to be hijacked by some freakin' zombies and we've got to help them!" Saki shrieked, shooting them pleading looks.

Hoshiko's eyes softened. She put an arm around Saki and said in an undertone, "Saki, listen, I know you're upset..."

"But Hokage-sama, half a dozen elite jonin, and squads of ANBU are all out there looking for your family," Cho finished for her.

Undeterred, Saki flounced over to Hayato and shook him by the shoulders. "Come on Hayato, you're supposed to be a genius! I'll bet you can clearly see that the best thing for us to do is to leave for Akash _right now!_"

Hayato winced and pried himself out of Saki's grasp. "Um..."

"Hayato-kun, please tell Saki she's being unreasonable!" Hoshiko cried. She, of all people, knew that Saki's impetuous nature often landed Saki—and the people around her— in deep trouble.

All eyes were fixed on Hayato. He sighed, ran a hand through his dark hair, and muttered, "On one hand, Saki does have a point—"

"See!" Saki roared victoriously.

"What?!" Cho and Hoshiko cried, horrified.

Hayato rolled his eyes. "Can I finish, ladies?" He speared them all with a glare. Seriously, how in the world did he ever get teamed up with three girls? It was damned troublesome, as his father would say. "Saki, after all, is the only person who has successfully healed the damage done by the chakra poison; if Yuki and Sasuke have already been infected, Saki is the only one who can heal them by virtue of her sharingan."

Hoshiko shook her head. "I bet Saki could teach a byakugan user how to do the same thing..."

"Hey, that's a good point! I don't know why no one thought of it before," Cho murmured appreciatively.

Saki stuck out her tongue and countered, "Nah, mom tried working out the jutsu with Hinata. It was a no go." She looked over at her Hyuga teammate and shrugged. "But hey, I bet we'll get a chance to try it out with your byakugan if you would just agree to come to Akash—"

Hoshiko slapped her forehead. "Saki, you're being _impossible._"

Hayato, who had silently been raising his hand waiting for a turn, finally cleared his throat. "However, there are equally pressing reasons why we should stay in the village. If what Saki overheard in the Hokage's office is true, then it's likely the village will need us _here._ Logistically, our team is a medical ninja unit: Saki and Hoshiko excel in healing, closely followed by Cho. I'm here to protect you in battle, and paired with Cho, the two of us can cover your backs. We're also well suited to scouting missions, due to Hoshiko's byakugan, Cho's mind-jutsu, Saki's ability to weave complicated genjutsu, and my intelligence paired with my strength in wind jutsu."

"But don't you see, that also makes us the _perfect_ rescue mission squad!" Saki moaned. "If we stay in the village, we'll just be escorting old people to the shelters and then be locked up ourselves. But if we go to Akash—"

Hayato wearily held up his hand. "Saki, there's just one problem with your plan. Even if we _did_ want to go to Akash, it's a two or three day journey from here. How would we get there on time?"

At this, Saki grinned. "Oh, _that_ part isn't a problem. We'll just henge to look like ANBU and get one of Naruto's clones to take us."

Hoshiko's eyes grew wide. "Saki, as you _insane_? If my dad is in Sage Mode, he'll see right through your henge!"

"Not if I cast a genjutsu," Saki countered triumphantly. As everyone knew, genjutsu was one of the Hokage's weaknesses.

Her three teammates stared at her in mute shock. Hayato finally broke the silence: "Well, that might work..." he offered.

"Hayato! Are you seriously recommending that we go to Akash?" Hoshiko moaned.

Saki stood up and fisted the air. "Hoshiko, this is our chance! We couldn't be there for Ryuu..." Here Saki paused, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "But we can be there for Yuki! And my for dad, and for all of our parents out there on the search and rescue mission! Come on guys, we can _do _this!"

Cho rose, her head bowed, her shoulders hunched. "I've already failed one teammate. I won't fail another... Count me in," she said, meeting Saki's gaze, her eyes flashing.

Hoshiko sniffled, thinking of her dead brother. "All right," she whispered, "count me in, too."

Hayato exhaled sharply and stood. "If we don't die on this mission, our parents are going to _kill_ us when we get back..."

Saki elbowed him in the ribs. "Come on Nara, where's your team spirit? We can DO this!" Saki fisted the air once more and grinned. "Now, here's the plan. You let me know what you think, Hayato-kun. First, we..."

As Saki went on, Hayato nodded: her plan was absolutely crazy, true—but it was just crazy enough to work.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading! Please review;)<em>


	39. Chapter 39: Zombies

Chapter 39: Zombies

"So, are you ready?"

_No._ "Yes, Aya-sensei," Yuki replied, her voice shaking.

Aya clasped her on the back, sensing her distress. "Don't worry so much, Yuki-san. You'll be fine. I believe in you!"

Yuku blinked down at her shorter sensei and just shrugged. She was afraid if she said anything, she would betray her anxiety again.

Tama nudged Yuki with her nose. "Remember, you won't be alone."

"I know," Yuki replied with a sigh. She faced Aya once more, who was chuckling to herself. "You know, sensei, you sure have a weird sense of humor, considering who we're up against."

"All the more reason to laugh, Yuki-chan. The Slaughterer killed my father, you know, but I don't let that defeat me. Anyway, I'm feeling optimistic about the upcoming battle—that's all," she replied with a grin.

"Your father? He—really?" Yuki asked, her eyes wide. Aya had never offered this information before.

Aya nodded, her countenance still cheerful. "We just have to do one last thing before we can return," Aya replied, "and that is a visit with Lady Death."

#

"Yo, zombies, I'm going to like, totally kick your asses—BELIEVE IT!" an army of Naruto clones proclaimed from the top of a nearby hill.

His clones waved wildly, giving the raspberry, and otherwise exhibiting lewd gestures to the undead army. His display was met by a volley of projectiles which the clones avoided; those who could not dodge dissolved themselves before they were hit. Feigning fright, the clones retreated, followed by a large segment of the edo tensei army.

Of course, when the zombies came into the valley in pursuit of their prey, the clones vanished. The army looked around in bemusement when suddenly, Sakura slammed her fists into the ground, causing a fissure to yawn beneath their feet. A series of huge boulders were rolled on top of them from Choji's vantage point on top of another nearby hill, sealing the deal.

"Yosh! That must have been at least a hundred of them!" Naruto called with pride. But his joy was short-lived: hundreds of hands erupted from the earth like freakish flowers.

"Shit!" Ino shrieked. "What the hell are we going to do now?"

"Never fear, your Hokage is here!" Naruto chimed, cheerful as ever. If the situation hadn't been so dire, Sakura would have slapped him. She curled her hands into fists and watched as Naruto bit his thumb and slammed it down on the ground, summoning the boss toad. Soon, the valley was filled with oil and then set aflame with explosive tags.

"See," Naruto called, triumphant, "no problem!"

"Naruto—they're still alive!" Karin screamed from the safety of the forest. Indeed, as smoke cleared in the valley, it revealed the charred forms of about one hundred zombies lurching to their feet. In the distance, another legion of undead were cresting the hillside and zeroing in on their location.

Naruto pressed a button on his walkie talkie. "Shino, activate the sealing dome. Hurry!"

At his order, a scroll unrolled across the sky and swooped down like a hawk on top of the army, sealing them before they could counter attack.

_At least that worked,_ Sakura sighed inwardly. She bit her lip as a new group of undead came closer. "What now, Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"Run like hell!" he shouted as he booked it for the next valley.

"Kami-sama," Sakura wailed as she followed, "Naruto, do you even have a plan?!"

"Of course I do! Divide and conquer, that's what I always say!"

Sakura gritted her teeth and dodged a poisoned kunai. There had to be a better way...

About an hour later, the only group that seemed to have been divided and conquered were the Konoha nin. A grim Sakura and Naruto stood back to back, surrounded by a horde of zombies.

Naruto called into his walkie talkie, "Oi, Shino, some ABNU back up would be nice right about now?" Even Sakura could hear the desperation in his voice.

"Kchhh. Sorry. Everyone is currently engaged, Hokage-sama..."

"Damn it!" Naruto stuffed his walkie-talkie into his pocket and formed a clone. "Go back to Konoha," he ordered it, "and conscript a few more teams of ANBU—now!"

His clone saluted its maker before disappearing in a yellow flash. Just as the first poison-tipped arrows were hurtling towards them, Naruto grabbed Sakura's arm and hiraishined away.

Once they were safe, Naruto keyed into the communications device again.

"Shino! Shino, are you there? I want you to make sure Karin stays out of harm's way. She's the only one who understands how these zombie guys work. I'm going to gather up the rest of our force—we're going to reconvene in the forest at the rendezvous point."

"Kchh. Roger, Hokage-sama."

Naruto ran a hand through his tangled hair as he regarded his companion. "We're doing good, Sakura-chan. We've already eliminated more than half of their army—we should be able to get to Sasuke in no time."

Sakura exhaled sharply. "Okay. Let's retreat for now and form a plan." She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but she couldn't stop herself from digging her nails into her palm.

As she was caught up in the motions of the hiraishin, a horrifying thought came to her: when they finally found Sasuke, what would they _do_? According to Neji, he was already partially merged with Madara.

Sakura gritted her teeth and waited for the nausea from the hiraishin to pass, chiding herself for her anxious thoughts. When they found Sasuke, they would deal with the situation. Until then, they had to concentrate on disabling some zombies.

_Hang in there Sasuke, please..._

#

"Saki, are you _sure_ this is going to work?"

"Hoshiko, for the last time, this is going to be just fine!" Saki retorted. Everything had gone without a hitch so far: Hoshiko had gotten them into the Hokage's tower no questions asked, and she had procured one of her dad's keys to the ANBU storage closet. The four genin had henged and dressed in authentic ANBU garb. Of course, they could have just as easily henged their ANBU outfits, but Hayato thought flinching the actual uniforms would make for a more convincing disguise.

"Okay guys, just hold still while I cast the genjutsu. It will fuzz out the lines of the henge, making our chakra impossible to sense!" Saki called, pride evident in her tone. She wove through a complicated series of hand-signs. She liked to think that her otousan would be proud of her expertly executed genjutsu, instead of appalled that she was committing high treason by bamboozling the Hokage.

Whatever, Saki thought, her brows furrowed in concentration. To make an omelet, you had to break a few eggs. With a flick of her wrist, she finished weaving the illusion. "There," she beamed, "perfect-o!"

"I just hope this works, Saki-san..." Cho said apprehensively.

"We'll be fine, Cho-san. Remember, we have a back-up plan," Hayato replied, his tone serene.

"What?" Hoshiko muttered, "You mean the plan where if we get caught by my dad, I start crying?"

"Yeah, that one. It's fool proof," Saki countered cheerfully while Hoshiko slapped herself in the face. "Now, we just wait for the signal..."

They didn't have to wait long. In a few minutes, Zeke and Clementine, the two cats who lived next to the Hokage's tower, came sneaking in through the ajar door. "Saki-chan, the Hokage is back!" Clementine mewed.

"He's asking for ANBU back up!" Zeke practically purred.

"You guys are getting a tuna fish feast when we get back!" Saki squealed. "All right team, let's go!" The four put their masks on and were in the Hokage's office in a flash.

Hayato bowed deeply to Naruto's clone. "You requested back-up, Hokage-sama?" he said in his best impression of a baritone.

Naruto smiled brightly. "That was fast. All right, I'm going to hiraishin you over!" As Naruto got ready to make the seals, he frowned for a moment. "Wait a minute—which team are you, anyway?"

Saki didn't bother to even use genjutsu. In an offended tone, she replied, "You don't recognize your own ANBU, Hokage-sama?"

Naruto waved defensively. "Of course I recognize you four! What kind of Hokage would I be if I didn't recognize my own ANBU? Heh, heh. Okay everyone—let's go!"

With that, they were caught up in the whirl of the hiraishin. It was unfortunate that no one could see Hoshiko's facial expression under her mask, which was caught between incredulous and flabbergasted at her father's own gullibility.

When they made it to the oak grove, Saki made a pretense of vomiting in a bush, when in reality she wove more hand-signs for a genjutsu.

_There! This will make it so that no one will question who we are; when they try and decipher our exact identities, they'll get distracted by something else. Brilliant! _She mentally thanked her father for teaching her that particular genjutsu and smiled. _Don't worry otousan, we're coming for you!_

#

Yuki steadied herself after the last portal jump. She found herself in an opulent parlor, where the wooden walls were polished and inlaid with gold. Many brocaded silk couches stood before tables shining with mother-of-pearl, though at the moment, the room was empty except for one person.

In the center of the room sat a regal old woman in a white kimono who held a porcelain cup. She drank from it slowly, as if savoring the rich flavor of her steaming tea. The woman's gray eyes flickered to Yuki, who bowed low in response.

"No need to be so formal child. I am grandmother to all who call me. Come," she said, motioning to the empty silver chair next to hers, "sit by me. Would you like some tea?"

"No thank you, my lady," Yuki managed as politely as she could. Aya had already told her not to eat or drink anything in death's house: doing so would bind her to the next world.

The old woman chuckled. "Oh, can't blame me for trying, young spirit walker." She eyed the young girl with humor and put her cup down on the shell table. It made a high pitched clinking sound that seemed to reverberate throughout the room. "Consider this your exit interview. By my grace, I have allowed you access into the outer realms. But," she continued with a coy smile, "there is something I want in return for granting you this power."

Yuki paled at that. Aya hadn't mentioned anything about giving something to Lady Death. However, she steadied her voice and replied, as calmly as she could, "What is it that you require?"

Chuckling, the Lady rested her elbows on the table, then set her chin on her palm. "I know about your plan regarding Madara, and I approve. Mostly..." She winked. "The last part needs some reworking. When you defeat Madara, I want his soul to come directly to me. Doesn't that sound fair?"

Yuku swallowed thickly. She really didn't know if that was a good idea or not. However, she figured that it was unwise to argue with Lady Death at such a delicate time. As long as Madara was banished from the world, she supposed it was all right.

"Of course my Lady," Yuki replied at last, her voice grave.

"Good girl. Come here and let me tweak your mangekyo just a tiny bit..." The lady placed both palms on Yuki's forehead, and she felt a warm, light feeling, like being kissed by sunlight. In a moment, it was over.

"Very good!" The lady clapped her hands and all at once the room began to fade. "Best of luck my dear!"

Yuki fell into darkness, and then swam through a silvery portal. She wondered, dimly, if she was finally going back to the earthly plane...

#

The extra influx of ANBU began turning the tide of the battle: the rolling hillsides were all marred with fire and giant ravines, where the bodies of the undead army were trapped, incinerated, sealed, and incapacitated by various and sundry means.

Saki was panting heavily. For one thing, her damn ANBU mask really hindered her use of the sharingan; for another, more than half of her chakra was being used to maintain genjutsu against their discovery by the other Konoha nin. If she was going to survive the zombie apocalypse, she was going to need to dispel the genjutsu.

"Red Butterfly, activate communication!" Saki yelped.

_'What the hell do you need?'_ was the terse reply. _'I'm busy trying not to be killed here!'_

'_Relay this everyone: I need to dispel the genjutsu.'_

_'What? Saki, you like, can't!'_

_'Cho, if I'm going to fight zombies, I need more juice. Plus, I think the other ANBU are going to be too busy with the zombies to probe our chakra...'_

_'Hello? Earth to Saki! If my dad is in Sage Mode, he's going to figure us out for sure!'_

Saki sighed. Apparently, Hoshiko was already 'plugged in' to their telepathic conversation. Saki had to pause a moment as a zombie came her way. Using her expert chakra control, she thrust her fist into the earth and forced up sharp rocks right into the zombie's heart.

The stabbed organ came right out of the decrepit corpse's back and beat a few more times on the earth spear until she incinerated it with a katon.

She winced. In all honesty, this was the first time Saki was seeing combat, and even though her enemies were _technically_ already dead, it was still _really_ disturbing to rip out their hearts and then light them on fire.

She was never going to eat kabobs again.

'_Guys? I seriously can't go on like this. Not if you need me to kill my own enemies, then toast the hearts you dismember from your own zombies like marshmallows on a stick. I'm letting it go _now_ before I get myself killed.'_

_'This is Hayato, Saki. We've just been ordered to retreat and reconvene. The point is moot: hold the genjutsu.'_

Saki gnashed her teeth and then spun around. Just as Hayato said, there was a Naruto clone about to whisk them all of to a rendezvous point.

_Damn Hayato. I may be an Uchiha, but I'm not freakin' invincible!_ Saki was exhausted. But she had no time to contemplate her miserable state, for in a moment her and her clandestine friends were transported to a clearing via the hiraishin along with the other ANBU.

Saki spotted her mother and began to sweat, and in that instant, was glad that one: she had not dispelled her genjutsu, and two: that her ANBU mask was hiding her face.

"All right, everyone! We've sealed up most of the zombies!" Naruto roared. There was a smattering of applause before the Hokage continued, "Best of all, we've only had a handful of injured ninja. Not to worry, they've all been hiraishined back to Konoha for treatment. Here's my latest strategy. I need the remaining ANBU to break up into two groups..."

Naruto went on to explain: while the two groups of ANBU would sandwich the remaining group of zombies, which were now concentrated by the main cave entrance, Naruto and Sakura would enter in the cave and deal with Madara themselves.

"Naruto!" Ino screeched, "You can't go in there with just the two of you. You should bring back up."

Naruto shook his head. "Let Sakura and I deal with Sasuke, okay Ino? I want you and Choji to deal with the zombie hordes, along with the rest of the jonin I brought—"

"Kchhh! Hokage-sama!"

Naruto brought out his walkie talkie and replied, "Shino? What's wrong?"

"The zombies—they're _gone_."

It was silent for a moment before Naruto responded. "They're...gone?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"It's probably a trap," Hayato drawled before he could stop himself. Saki glared at him from behind her mask. _Stupid freakin' twerp! He's going to get us into trouble!_

Fortunately for them, Neji promptly agreed with the 'mysterious' ANBU member. "Naruto—it probably _is_ a trap."

_Shit shit shit._ Saki silently cursed to herself as she looked up at the sky through the eye slits in her mask. The bright autumn light had faded to murky blue tinged with red; the setting sun colored everything with a crimson wash, and a red, full moon rose like a dead, bloated fish in the east. Saki shivered. Something did not feel _right_ about this.

"Change of plans. I want everyone besides Sakura and myself on standby—"

"Naruto, you _can't_ walk right into a trap without backup," Ino protested.

"Ino!" Naruto barked, drawing himself up to his full height. In that moment, he truly looked like the Hokage. His face was grave, and deep lines furrowed his brow. Perhaps it was the gravity of the situation, or the way the setting sun colored one side of Naruto's face orange, while the other side was bathed in red and blue shadows. In any event, his presence commanded attention.

"If it is a trap," Naruto continued more softly, but still with every ounce of authority, "all the more reason for _only_ Sakura and I to go. I won't risk any of my people unless I have to. I'll station enough clones with you—" here Naruto gestured widely to the assembled ninja "—and I'll call for back up as I need it. Sakura-chan, are you ready?"

She nodded grimly.

"Hokage-sama, take me with you, too," Karin said harshly.

Naruto shook his head. "No, Karin, absolutely not—"

"Listen. I'm not going for Sasuke. I'm going because you'll need my help as a sensor."

"Thanks Karin, but I think I'm getting the hang of sensing these zombie guys. Plus," Naruto continued in a hushed voice, "I can sense a change in the battle field right now. I can feel Sasuke and Madara's chakra signatures. You all are staying, Sakura and I are going. That's _final._"

And with that, Naruto created a dozen clones who all sat in the clearing and began gathering nature chakra. In a flash, the original Naruto was gone with Sakura in tow.

Saki could feel her heart beating wildly in her chest. She nudged Cho with her shoulder. Even with the older girl's face covered by a mask, Saki could sense her exasperation. '_What, Saki? You know it's dangerous for me to use this technique with my mom so close by!'_

Saki sighed and warily eyed the other ninja around them. The atmosphere was tense as they awaited further instructions from their Hokage. '_Cho-san. Open up a psychic connection with everyone. Because we're moving out.'_

_'WHAT?'_

_'I said...er, thought, that we're going to follow Naruto-sama and my mom.'_

_'Hayato,'_ Cho thought menacingly, '_Tell Saki that she's crazy!'_

Saki wasn't sure, but she thought that she could _feel_ Hayato mentally shrug. _'It wouldn't be a bad idea to be on call if there are any medical emergencies on the front line. Hokage-sama tends to be overconfident. He often leaves without back-up when he could really use the help. That's why we came here, after all.'_

_'This is Hoshiko. Guys. Seriously. You want a bunch of genin to go out into a field of potential zombies so we can give back up to my dad—who, by the way, if he finds out that it's us, will have a fit?'_

Saki smiled. _'Yep Hoshiko-chan, pretty much. Hey, come on, remember how we're going to stick up for our comrades and all of that? I have a gut feeling that this is the right thing to do... Anyway, we've made it this far. Come on everyone—for Ryuu-kun!'_

Hoshiko mentally sighed, loud enough for everyone to hear it._ 'Okay Saki-chan. Let's do it.'_

_'Saki-san, this is Hayato. Do you have enough chakra to fuel a good concealing genjutsu to get us to the front lines?'_

_'Already on it.'_ Saki discretely turned away from the majority of ninja and began weaving hand-signs. Their group was already on the outskirts of the assembled ANBU, and it only took a little bit of chakra to make them disappear further into the shadows. _'Ok, I can only hold this for a minute— let's move out!'_

_'Saki-chan,'_ an exasperated Hoshiko replied, '_you're insane.' _Saki could tell though from Hoshiko's tone that she was actually quite proud of her, and Saki grinned.

_'Let's go!'_ In a moment, the squad of genin disappeared into the brush, making their way up to the front lines. They were stopped once or twice by ANBU on patrol, but between Saki's genjutsu and Cho's mental nudges, they didn't have too much trouble reaching the outskirts of the clearing in front of the cave.

"Let's stop here," Saki whispered as the team halted under a copse of trees. "Hoshiko, use your byakugan and keep tabs on our parents. What are they up to now?"

Hoshiko nodded and activated her doujutsu. "I don't see them yet. Hold on..."

While she searched, Cho whispered to Saki, "Does it bother you that a group of piddly genin were able to get past the Hokage...and entire squads of elite ninja?"

Saki blinked. "No, not really. Should it?"

Cho just shook her head. She didn't have time to respond to Saki, however, as Hoshiko let out a little gasp of surprise. "I found them! It looks like—oh, no…"

"What? What!" Saki yelped. She was shushed by Cho.

Hayato quickly gave out out orders: "Cho, can you mentally connect us to Hoshiko? We should all see what she's seeing."

Cho bit her dirty fingernails. "Okay..." In a moment, they were all looking through Hoshiko's eyes.

"Who is that? I can make out the chakra signatures of my mom and Naruto, but who's that other guy?" Saki wondered aloud.

They had no time for further questions. The earth rumbled and shifted out from under them as lightning forked across sky.

"Take cover!" Saki screamed, but her voice was lost in the roar of thunder.

#

"Sakura—you ready?" Naruto whispered. They stood under a cluster of pine trees just on the outskirts of what had been the main battle field. All around them, the landscape was eerily quiet, except for the pounding of their hearts.

Sakura gulped. "Naruto,what if he's already been taken over?" she asked, a tremor in her voice.

Naruto forced himself to smile. "Then we'll kick some sense into Sasuke and bring him back. Just like we did last time, Sakura-chan. We can _do it._ Believe it!" Sakura smiled bittersweetly and nodded before the two strode out into the field.

"Can you sense him, Naruto?"

Naruto stopped abruptly and rubbed the back of his head. "I could a minute ago—I could have sworn..."

Suddenly, the space around them started to dematerialize into a thick mist. Naruto grabbed Sakura by the hand and jumped back several feet as Sasuke appeared from the center of the spiraling air.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted, despite herself, while beside her, Naruto growled.

"It's not Sasuke, Sakura-chan."

"Well, hello! If it isn't my favorite little ninjas from the Hidden Leaf. So good to see you," he murmured.

Sakura gapped at him. It _looked_ like Sasuke, but that voice—that sick, twisted, falsely cheerful voice—that voice was _not._ Sakura thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest. Sasuke's features were contorted into a face that was not his own. His lips were curled up in an animal snarl, and madness glinted from his gaze. Madara chortled, and his eyes caught the light of the red moon.

He looked more demon than person.

Sakura clenched her fists, pure, unadulterated rage filling her being: how _dare_ Madara do this to Sasuke!

Madara continued in a haughty tone, "It certainly took you long enough to get here. But it looks like it's too late for poor little Sasuke-chan, hey?"

"Shut up, Uchiha Madara," Naruto snarled. "What have you done to Sasuke?"

"Tch. Isn't that obvious, Naruto-kun? I see you are as dense as ever."

"Give him back!" Sakura roared, her anger and desperation flaring. She leapt forward and pummeled the ground beneath Madara's feet in an attempt to unbalance him. But he merely laughed, the sick sound ringing throughout the clearing. Just as the ancient Uchiha dodged her attack, the clearing flashed with lightning.

She cursed herself for being hasty, but she couldn't help it. Sakura would have continued to fling herself at Madara— and likely killed herself in the process— had Naruto not grabbed her and hiraishined her back to the clearing's edge.

"Sakura," he ground out harshly between clenched teeth, "I will bring Sasuke back. You wait here!"

"Let me come with you, Naruto—don't leave me out!" Sakura hissed.

Naruto shook his head and patted Sakura on her belly. "Sakura, you're _pregnant._ Please. I swear I will bring him back. Just like I did last time," he added more softly.

Sakura brought a shaky hand up to her face and wiped away her tears. "Please..." was all she managed to say before she became too choked up to speak.

Naruto kissed her on the forehead and was gone in a flash. All she could do was watch from the sidelines, worry and fear etched in the lines of her face, as her hands rested on her stomach. _Sasuke, you stupid bastard. You had better snap out of it..._

Her one solace was that at the very least, her two youngest children were safe at home in the village.

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><p><em>:D Thanks for reading. Please review!<em>


	40. Chapter 40: Faces

Oh boy. Sorry about the wait. Epic writer's block! Well I'm over it, and here, my dears, is the update! Please enjoy. We're getting near the end of the story here!

Also, if you would like, check out some awesome and epic fanart for this fic by the talented dazynl8 up at dazynl8. deviantart art/a-hokage-s-family-411633114. Naruto's family never looked so cute:)

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><p>Chapter 40: Faces<p>

Yuki blinked, then blinked again. She found herself in a dark room, and it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the flickering candle light. "Aya-sensei?" she croaked, her throat parched.

She saw a pair of eyes flickering in the half-darkness. "Yuki-chan," Aya whispered, weariness evident in her voice. Yuki could dimly see Aya tapping on the wall of the earthen hut with a stick before the walls sunk back into the ground. Yuki felt herself shivering in the suddenly cool autumnal air.

To her left, the sun was setting over the blood-red sea, and to her right, the full moon was rising, red and full like a ripe pomegranate. Arranged all around them were the members of the Uchiha branch family, waiting in silent anticipation.

"Water?" Yuki croaked, feeling like her throat was on fire. Someone handed her a cup. Woozily, she took it and gulped, little rivulets of water trickling down her chin. After her thirst was quenched, she noticed that the glass felt awkward in her hands, as if it didn't quite…fit. For the first time, she noticed that her fingernails stretched out several inches and curled in and up over themselves, like the nails of wealthy, idle women. Nails that took several years to grow. Her heart sank at that thought.

"How long was I gone?" Yuki asked anxiously, searching for her sensei and not finding her anywhere.

An older woman sat next to her, with white hair and fine lines around her eyes. Yuki didn't recognize her. "We were gone for about five days, Yuki-chan," she said.

"But—who are you?"

The woman laughed, a crystalline sound that was all-too-familiar. "I suppose I didn't tell you. You've only aged five years during the ceremony, but I've aged twice that."

"Aya? It's you," Yuki breathed. The once young Aya now looked ten years older. Yuki looked at the gray streaks in Aya's black, frizzy hair and frowned. "I'm so sorry—I didn't know!" Yuki cried.

"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for? I knew what I was getting into, and so did you. Here, check yourself out!" Aya replied with her usual, chipper tone.

A woman with cinnamon colored skin handed Yuki a polished copper mirror. She gazed into it, the low light of the setting sun and the rising moon reflecting off of its surface. When Yuki caught sight of herself, she gasped: her face had lost any visages of baby fat, making her look even older than even her previous, precocious features. Strangest of all, her typically short, spiky hair now hung down to her waist in long black waves. She looked down at the ends of her hair in disbelief, before realizing with further shock that she was literally bulging out of her clothing. Her chest was…_huge_. How was she supposed to fight with those…things hanging out?

Aya grinned as she caught Yuki's horrified gaze. "Looks like we need to rustle up some new clothes for you before we go into battle."

Yuki blinked. "Battle. We're going...?"

"As soon as we get you dressed properly, Yuki-chan."

Yuki blinked. "I don't suppose I have time for a hair cut, but these freaky _nails_ have got to go."

"Yes, of course! We'll have to do it quickly though." She rested a hand on Yuki's shoulder almost apologetically. "I'm sorry you can't rest more, but tonight is the full moon." When Aya saw Yuki's noncomprehending gaze, she explained, "The Slaughter is making his move tonight."

Yuki stood up roughly from her seated position, ignoring the dancing stars in her vision. "Then there's no time to waste then. Let's hurry."

#

Sasuke gazed out of what seemed like another man's eyes, trapped in his own body and powerless to stop his treacherous limbs form making the hand-signs for the naraka path. Purple fire spit up from the earth, and from its center a demon's head emerged. Its gapping maw opened, and from its depths zombies emerged, one after the other, until about a dozen stood around the ruins of the battlefield. "Go now," his lips muttered in a voice wholly unlike his own, "and throw up a barrier around this site. Can't have any back-up arriving just yet!"

Just as they lurched off to do his bidding, Naruto returned, his eyes flashing with orange light. "Madara."

"Naruto-kun! So nice of you to come!" Madara chimed.

From a small corner of his mind, Sasuke clawed wildly at the walls around his consciousness. Was Sakura all right? Madara had just struck the battlefield with a fire katon. Even now, Sasuke could smell the acrid stench rising up out of the charred earth.

"Sasuke, I know you're in there. I want you to know, Sakura is okay!"

"Well isn't that sweet."

Ignoring Madara's sardonic comment, Naruto continued, "You need to fight the bastard, Sasuke! You're stronger than this. Don't let him take over your body!"

Madara shrugged. "Oh Sasuke can hear you all right, but I'm afraid big bad Madara is here to stay." He grinned at that. "But enough of your pointless banter, Naruto-kun. I want to see how your jutsu has improved, now that you are Hokage!" Madara chortled and, with the force of shinra tensei, drew Naruto in with the force of his magnetic pull.

But Naruto was familiar with this jutsu, having encountered it before. As Naruto funneled a monstrous amount of chakra into his feet, he couldn't help but be grateful to Sasuke, who forced him to train until the had mastered his defense against the rinnegan's attack. Naruto dispelled a nearby clone and activated Sage Mode, just as he was finally drawn into Madara's range. Chidori crackled all around Madara's hands, but Naruto was ready, defending himself with a rapid set of taijutsu until he had created some distance between himself and his opponent.

_He's just playing with me, _Naruto thought. His senses sharp in Sage Mode, he felt out with his chakra and sensed Sakura, still out of harm's way. Around them, he could feel a fair number of the undead arranging themselves in a circle around the circumference of the clearing. It was strange sensing their chakra, as it was not truly alive like normal chakra, but flowed almost like a dark absence of energy that would be easy to miss if one was not looking for it.

On the edges of the clearing, he could sense a group of ANBU, but he was having trouble getting a clear reading on their chakra. _Damn it, I told them I didn't need back-up. It was probably Ino's idea..._ However, Naruto no longer had time to think, because at that moment Madara dematerialized in a swirl. In response, Naruto threw out a handful of kunai with the hirashin seal and waited for Madara to return. _He's not the only one who can use a transport jutsu..._

Naruto could _feel_ Madara's return before he could see him, and hirashined out of the way accordingly. To Sakura's eyes, it looked like two twin shadows were flitting over the battlefield, swirls of black and gold. Suddenly, she felt something move behind her and rolled out of the way—just in time to avoid a kunai to the back, courtesy of Madara. Sakura looked up at Sasuke's face, his purple ringed eyes looking down at her with another man's soul in them, and she trembled—remembering the last time, so many years ago, when Sasuke had come so close to killing her in such an eerily similar way. Her blood turned cold. She knew that if she didn't do something she was going to _die,_ because Sasuke—no, _Madara— _was hovering over her, his eyes whirling in black commas, and in his hand was a katana with chidori running along its length.

But all the feeling left her body as she looked up at the figure of her husband, lightning in his hands chirping like a flock of deranged birds, looking down at her in utter disgust.

"Sasuke," she whispered, eyes wide in shock. _It's genjutsu you idiot! _She shouted at herself_ Fight back! Fight!_ But despite her inner voice, she could only look on in fear as the sword came down on her, aimed at her heart—

She felt strong arms around her then, and a rush of air. "Naruto," she whispered weakly, overcome by a strong sense of deja vu.

"Sakura! Are you okay?"

Naruto put her down. She was shaking, but she nodded her head. "I'm fine. I just got caught up in a genjutsu. I let my guard down," she replied in a quavering voice.

"Sakura-chan, find some cover and this time stay sharp. Watch out, Madara's released more zombies around the perimeter. Go!" he shouted as he ran for Madara.

Sakura wanted to argue, but she knew that he was right. She was useless in this battle. The best thing to do would be to let Naruto handle the situation. She would heal him at the end of the battle. That would be how she would make herself useful. She hated it, and she felt weak, and _useless_, but she wasn't stupid. She laced a protective hand around her belly and ran.

Concealing her chakra as best she could, she found another hiding spot and laced it with genjutsu. She wasn't sure if it would be enough against Madara, but it was better than nothing. She gazed back at the field and watched as Madara and Naruto seemed to be staring each other down. _Oh no, _Sakura inwardly moaned, _is he caught in an illusion?_

But just as she was about to jump to his rescue, one of Naruto's clones leapt onto the field and dissolved himself. The extra jolt of Sage Mode chakra drew the Hokage out of the illusion. Naruto laughed harshly. "No one's been able to use genjutsu on me once I mastered the Kyubi mode."

Madara gave him a mock bow. "They don't call me the founder of the Uchiha for nothing."

"Kurama says you can save your breath. That trick isn't going to work on me again."

Naruto vanished in a yellow flash and Madara followed suit. Sakura squinted, but she couldn't follow the movement of the ninja at all. It was faster than the speed of light itself, she mused.

For some reason, Madara began laughing to himself, and the two paused in their airy dance to glare at each other. "What's so funny, asshole?" Naruto shouted.

"I was just thinking. What are you going to do if you ever catch me? Use your love-no-jutsu to force me to return Sasuke?"

"I hadn't gotten that far," Naruto growled. "First, I was going to kick your ass, and then I was going to shove your dirty consciousness out of Sasuke's body!"

Madara laughed again, the chilling, evil sound sending icy arrows into Sakura's guts. "Let me propose a solution then. Because to be honest, I tire of this dance. Why don't I gather a big old chidori in my hand, and you do your rasengan thing, and we'll end it all here? It will feel all nostalgic almost. What do you say?"

Naruto exhaled sharply. He began forming a rasengan in his palm, than disappeared in a yellow flash.

_Don't do it, Naruto! It's a trap!_ Sakura wanted to shout. She bit her fingernails and watched as Naruto winked back into existence with a giant rasengan in his hand. Sasuke's face twisted in a cruel snarl and gathered his own, epic chadori in his palms, and when the two jutsu met, insane colored sparks flew over the field, blinding Sakura. But as she squinted, she could see another Naruto materialize behind Madara, a rasenshuriken whirling on his outstretched arm. _A clone! But which one is the real Naruto?_

The rasenshuriken was released, and the field became an explosion of multicolored light, reds and whites and blues shrouded in electric black, colors more vibrant and terrifying than anything Sakura had ever seen. When the dust cleared, Madara stood, standing alone and laughing hysterically to himself.

"Naruto-kun! Those were both clones, eh? Where's the real one?"

A hand erupted from the earth with another rasenshuriken in its open palm directly under Madara. There was another blinding, hellish burst of light, and this time when the smoke dissipated, Naruto and Madara stood facing each other once more.

"That was very clever work there, Naruto-kun, hiding yourself under the earth and using your clones to attack."

"Don't patronize me," Naruto spat. "You just wanted to see if you could pull off shinra tense, chidori, and using the sharingan aspect of your jutsu at the same time."

Madara waved with mock modesty. "I always was an overachiever. Well, it _has_ been fun playing with you and trying out my new jutsu, but I'm afraid it's time to _end_ this little charade, wouldn't you say?"

"I couldn't agree more," Naruto growled.

"But before we go at it again," Madara laughed, "let me just dispel one teensy tiny genjutsu. Oh, this is rich." Madara made a few hand-signs, and all at once, Naruto's Sage Mode senses perked up.

"You bastard!" Naruto shouted. "You've just cast another genjutsu. I told you, those aren't going to work on me!"

Madara chortled. "Go on, ask your precious little fox if I'm kidding you or not."

In a moment, the blood drained from Naruto's face. "Hoshiko-chan...no..."

"That's right my little Hokage, your precious Hoshiko-_chan_, along with Sasuke's other brat, are currently being surrounded by zombies. Now the question is, would you like me to slaughter them in front of you, or would you prefer it if they watched you die first? You see, I would have said something sooner, but I honestly couldn't come up with an answer to my conundrum myself. I'm just not sure which option would be more entertaining!"

Naruto gave a hand-signal, and a handful of his clones flashed out of sight to defend his daughter and her comrades. "How about," Naruto replied in a deathly quiet voice, "I just kill you myself—right here, right now."

Sakura gasped from her hiding place and felt with her own, albeit rudimentary sensorial capabilities. She could _feel_ her daughter's chakra now that the genjutsu had been dispersed. She drew herself up to her knees, her eyes wide with horror But before she could leave her hiding spot, one of Naruto's clone's hirashined over to her. "Sakura," he murmured quietly, "please stay put. I'll deal with this. I don't want you to get hurt, too."

"Damn it Naruto!" she hissed. "My kid is out there too!"

"Sakura," he whispered, "I don't want anything to happen to your baby. You are here primarily as a medic. Please stay safe, so that if there are any casualties..." He let his sentence trail off, and in her mind's eye, she saw her own precious Saki, injured and bleeding on the battlefield with no one to heal her, because her mother had been too pigheaded to listen to her Hokage.

"I'll stay put," Sakura rasped, tears welling in her eyes.

The clone spared her a sad smile, then flashed out of existence, and Sakura found herself squeezing her eyes shut and praying to the gods she barely believed in to _please, please, keep the children safe_.

#

Back in the center of the battle field, Naruto glowered at Madara, who stood across from him, still laughing his head off. With his sensory capabilities, he could sense his clones reaching the children just in time as zombie hordes closed in on them. Without further thought, Naruto lunged forward, the killing intent radiating off of him in waves.

He struck out at the Uchiha with all the strength that was expected of a Hokage, but with each blow, Madara simply dematerialized his body at will. Growling, Naruto increased his attack speed, but it seemed like no matter how fast he struck at him, Madara easily outmaneuvered him.

His clones where all tied up at the moment defending the children—had this all been a part of Madara's plan, to siphon off the clones that he depended on in battle, then engage him in close combat so that he couldn't form any more? But Naruto had plenty of chakra, and he could easily form more clones as soon as he got some distance between himself and Madara.

However, as soon as Naruto tried to retract his hand from Madara's dematerialized body, his enemy solidified his flesh and caught Naruto's fist neatly in his stomach. Without any hesitation, Madara took a senbone and pieced Naruto's wrist before releasing him once again.

Breathing heavily, Naruto backed away from Madara and ripped out the senbone from his arm. "You think something like that will stop me? You bastard!"

Madara cackled at this. "Actually, I think it will..."

Suddenly, the surroundings became hazy to Naruto. He clenched his teeth, but suddenly felt weak, and stumbled. "What the..."

"You see, Naruto-kun," Madara purred as he activated the naraka path, causing the fiery demon head to emerge from the ground once more, "I developed a special poison just for you. It's really an amazing brew, if I do say so myself. It causes the Kyubi chakra to devour the chakra of its host, almost like an autoimmune disease. I hope it feels terrible."

Naruto sunk down to his knees, crying out in pain. Madara resumed his monologue, "And now, dear, _dear_ Hokage, allow me to end your sad and pitiful life with this humble kunai. Turns out that darling Hoshiko-chan will watch her father die before her own untimely—"

At that moment, Sakura was a blur of pink as she picked up Naruto, deposited him by the edge of the clearing with a clone of her own, and stood to face Madara herself.

_No more running. No more hiding. I will face him myself._

"Sasuke!" Sakura roared, gathering chakra in her fists. "Sasuke, you need to wake up _NOW_!" She pounded the earth, and as the tears streamed down her face, she shouted, "Sasuke! Sasuke, you idiot, I'm _pregnant_!"

#

She hoped that she had at least upset Madara's footing with her attack. But as the smoke cleared, she could see that it had done nothing to affect Madara's balance at all, and now, it seemed as though he was levitating. She stared at his face, transfixed: Sasuke's face all twisted and hijacked by some psycho ghost, _her_ lover, _her_ husband, the father of _her_ children.

_How could he?_ And as Sakura had this thought, she wasn't sure who she was truly referring too, whether it was Madara or Sasuke she was more enraged at. She felt anger pumping through her, making her blood run as hot as a raging fire.

"I'm pregnant, you asshole!" Sakura wailed, shaking her fist at the sky. Once the words were out of her mouth, they sounded silly, but she didn't care. She was too angry and terrified to care. She looked at Sasuke beseechingly, silently pleading with him to _please, snap out of it!_

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Madara's cruel smirk and cold eyes shifted. She thought she saw distress flicker across his eyes. Suddenly, he began to wail, his form writhing in the air like a salted slug. "No! Impossible! Stay back!" the insane man shouted, hurtling back to the ground and collapsing onto his knees, cradling his head in his hands.

"Sasuke! Sasuke!" she shouted, wanting to run over to him, but afraid for her life and the life of the unborn child: so instead she stayed rooted to the spot and watched in terrified fascination as Madara fought the consciousness within himself.

Finally, his body panting heavily, he looked up into Sakura's face, and she could clearly see that it was _Sasuke._ She wasn't sure how she knew, only that the lines of his face, and the light in his eyes, and the familiar curve of his trembling mouth were uniquely _his_. She knew them better than she knew the forms of her own face. "Sasuke..." she whispered, staggering forward.

"Sakura!" he cried hoarsely. "Sakura—activate the death seal."

"What? No!" Sakura shouted, horrified. "Didn't you hear what I just said? You're going to be a father again!" Her hand clutched her belly and she looked at him imploringly. "You've got to fight him—"

"Sakura," Sasuke panted, his hands clawing at the ground, "I can't. I can't hold him for much longer. Sakura, please! Listen to me—"

"NO! You will listen to ME! You can fight him Sasuke! You _have _to. Do it for your children!" she wailed, her voice breaking. "I believe in you!"

Sasuke began convulsing, and using every ounce of strength, managed to ground out in what was little more than a croak, "Sakura. I can't... Sakura, he's going to just _kill_ you. He's going to _murder_ everyone in Konoha—" Sasuke collapsed and moaned, but forced himself to rise again on his elbows and looked up at Sakura plaintively. "I love you Sakura. Please, kill me," he whispered before groaning and clutching his head, shaking on the muddy ground like an epileptic patient.

Sakura just stared at him in mute horror. She hadn't been able to kill him all those years ago, when he had been a criminal, and he had almost killed her for her inaction. But she would _never_ be able to kill him: not then, not now—not _ever_.

"Sasuke!" she roared, her resolve strengthening, "I will _not_ kill you! I love you! You're everything to me Sasuke..." she concluded softly, her eyes tearing as she met Sasuke's gaze.

Killing him would be like destroying herself: it was impossible.

Sakura clenched her hands into tight fists and strengthened her resolve. Banishing all terror, fear and grief from her voice, she shouted, "You _have_ to fight Madara, Sasuke!"

"Sakura," he wheezed, coughing up blood in between words, "please. Use the death seal. _Now!_" he screamed, desperation cracking his voice.

Sakura shook her head and planted her feet. "No." Her eyes filled with water, the color of the dew glinting off green spring grass after a long rain. "I won't fight you, Sasuke. If you don't throw off Madara, he's going to kill me and your unborn baby."

Sasuke's eyes darted frantically to hers as he tried to speak. "Sakura! No! Please—"

A wail of pain left his throat, and he shuddered on the ground once more. And when he rose, the contours of his face were twisted in an unfamiliar scowl.

"Death seal? How the hell did you hide that one from me…? Tricky little Sasuke, you always did like to hold cards up your sleeve. Just like Itachi-_kun. _But no matter. I assume you," he gestured to Sakura, "hold the key to the seal, from your little conversation. So I'll just have to kill you and assuage myself of any threat from that silly little seal." He cackled at this, a terrible sound that made Sakura's stomach roil. He withdrew a kunai from his robe, its end dripping from a purple poison. "Watch now, Sasuke-kun, as I kill your wife and your unborn baby with your own two hands."

"Sasuke! Fight him! Fight!" Sakura screeched, motionless and transfixed as Madara rose from the ground.

Madara grimaced and rushed towards her, aiming the kunai straight for her heart.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading and happy new year. Please, review:)<em>


	41. Chapter 41: Red Moon

_Chapter forty-one: _Red Moon

"Hoshiko—where the hell did your dad's clones go!" Saki roared.

But Hoshiko's eyes were fixed on the battlefield and wide with horror. "My dad's been hit! He's— oh gods, he needs help!"

Hayato frowned and backed in closer to his comrades. "We've got to get out of this knot of zombies first..." They were circled by about twenty of the undead, their menacing eyes cold and lifeless.

Saki panted, pure panic rising along with the bile at the back of her throat. "We're goners," she whispered under her breath.

Just then, she felt something crawling on her arm. It was a small, glinting beetle. Saki's sharingan enhanced eyes darted around, noticing more black bugs crawling out from the sleeves of her compatriots. _What the...?_

Suddenly, the bugs flew into the air, swirled together and became—

"Shino-san!" Hoshiko cried, her white eyes growing wider.

The bug clone seemed to sigh heavily. "I've been tracking you for a long time. You do realize this is the last place you should be. Why? Because you—"

Saki's jaw dropped, and she blurted out, "But my genjutsu—it was perfect!"

The ANBU captain shook his head. "Hinata-sama overhead your conversation before you came to Akash." Here Shino sighed again for emphasis before continuing, "She was moved by your speech about Ryuu-kun, and so allowed you to come this far."

"Dad— he _knew_ the whole time?" Hoshiko breathed.

Shino shook his head. "I never said that..."

"What!" she squeaked.

"Hinata told me to keep an eye on you four. I probably should have told Naruto, but Hinata swore me to secrecy..."

"So my dad _didn't _figure it out after all!" Hoshiko slapped herself in the face.**  
><strong>"But why on earth would she do that, Shino-san?" Cho asked in bewilderment.

Shino shrugged. "She said something about the will of fire, that it was important you kids take an active role in the combat...and that Naruto would have never let you leave Konoha. But I never thought you'd get out to the front lines." Shino pushed his glasses up further on the bridge of his nose and grimaced. "I really seem to have erred in allowing you to proceed this far. Unfortunately, as you four were racing for the front lines, the primary group of ANBU you left were ambushed, and I was distracted. Now. Please stand back," Shino finished just as the zombie hordes staggered closer, their groans filling the air.

The bug clone spread out his hands and a steady stream of insects zoomed around the clearing, descending like a black cloud on the advancing foes. In a moment, every single zombie in a fifty-foot radius collapsed in a twitching heap on the ground. Their companions further off gnashed their teeth and began stumbling forwards in outrage.

"What did you do?" Saki asked in awe.

It was Hayato who answered, his forehead wrinkled in thought. "You probably calibrated your bugs to devour the chakra vessels in the hearts, thus rendering the zombies powerless to circulate their chakra."

Shino nodded. "But the real reason you're all here—you're a team of medics, correct?"

"We need to retrieve my father, but it's too dangerous to get in the center of the battlefield!" Hoshiko cried.

"I think I have enough chakra to…" Hayato trailed off, inhaling sharply. He squinted, making the hand-signs for the shadow possession jutsu. A shadowy hand stretched out from Hayato's feet, snaking across the ground and weaving around the cluttered battlefield. The hand reached the Hokage, closed around his body like a dark claw, and deftly dragged in the Hokage's prone body forward.

The zombies stood confounded for a moment, then, with strangled cries, reached for Naruto. But Hayato was ready for them: thin black shadow spikes whipped back the enemy as the shadow hand zoomed back towards the Konoha nin.

"You three heal the Hokage," Hayato panted, wiping the sweat out of his eyes. "I'll guard your backs."

"Yes!" Saki roared, sharingan whirling.

"I'm afraid I'm just about out of chakra," the Shino's clone buzzed, "I'll send reinforcements in a moment. Hang in there, kids." And then, Shino's clone dissolved like wisps of smoke.

Naruto moaned on the ground, his teeth clenched and his face pale, but he had no wounds or any outward signs of major injury. Saki ground her teeth: she was low on chakra, but she knew she could do this. _I just have to think about what I did when I healed Takeo: I have to focus on seeing the chakra imbalance._ Saki strained her doujutsu to its limits, willing herself to get a closer look at the Hokage's chakra system, but it was a lot more difficult than when she had examined Takeo.

"His chakra," Hoshiko mumbled fearfully, "it looks like..."

"It looks like it's _eating_ itself," Saki finished for her, her lips twisted in a scowl.

"Do you have any idea how to fix it?" Hoshiko asked tearfully.

Saki bit her lower lip. "I have no clue..." This was _nothing_ like Takeo's infection. She bit her finger until she drew blood and slammed down her palm, summoning Katsuyu with the dregs of her chakra. But though the slugs covered Naruto's body and began trying to heal him, it was no use, and the slug had no idea what was wrong.

"I'm sorry, Saki-chan, everyone," Katsuyu said, her antennae quivering.

"We've got to be missing something here," muttered Saki, her jaw clenched.

"I have an idea," Hayato called, throwing explosive tags at the incoming enemies. "Cho-san, can you link us all together with your mind jutsu?"

Cho blinked. "I suppose I can try, but I'm not sure…"

"If we can all see what Saki and Hoshiko can see, perhaps we can come up with a plan together."

Cho nodded. "Ah. I'll try!" She formed the hand-seals and suddenly, Saki could _see_ out of Hoshiko's eyes while simultaneously seeing her own, sharingan-enhanced perspective. It made Saki a bit dizzy, but she ignored the uncomfortable sensation on concentrated on the task at hand.

"It looks like the chakra from the Kyuubi is eating Naruto's natural chakra reserve," Hayato said. "Hoshiko, I want you to use your byakugan and take a closer look at Hokage-sama's internal organs."

"Okay," Hoshiko whispered uncertainly before focusing her eyes even harder.

"Whoah Hoshiko, it's like x-ray vision!" Saki called appreciatively as she saw a double image of what Hoshiko was seeing. But then, she gasped.

"His organs! It looks like they're _dissolving!_" Cho cried in horror. "What do we _do?_"

Thanks to the mind connection, Saki could _feel_ the panic radiating Cho, and from Hoshiko in particular. She took a deep breath and replied, "This is no time to freak out. Let's stay calm and think of a plan?" She shot Hayato a pleading look.

Hayato crossed his arms, lost in thought. "They say that the Uchiha have the power to control the Jinchuriki. My dad mentioned something about it during the last war—"

"Spare us the details! What should I do?" Saki demanded.

"Try entering his mind with genjutsu," he replied, his voice surprisingly calm. "You might be able to control the demon fox and stop him from destroying Hokage-sama."

Saki paled. "I—I don't know if I—"

"Just do it Saki! You have to try!" Hoshiko interjected. Saki could feel her terror through their mind connection.

Saki gulped, then looked at Hoshiko, then back down at the Hokage. _I have to do this! I __**have**__ to! _"Okay. Here I go!" Saki said with confidence she didn't feel. Gingerly prying open Naruto's closed eyes with her fingers, Saki took a deep breath and cast a genjutsu that she had learned from her sister—

And before her, a giant fox demon glowered down at her, its eyes blood red and gleaming in the light of a red moon.

Saki screamed.

#

Sakura saw the blade inching towards her, as if in slow motion. _This is it then,_ some floating part of her mind thought. _In the end, I was finally killed by Sasuke._ She couldn't believe it. Sasuke wasn't fighting. He was giving in. He had given up her and on his family. She stood there, motionless, paralyzed with emotions she could not name.

She closed her eyes, no longer having the will to struggle. If Sasuke had given up, then so would she. They could be together at last, in death. Because the minute Madara stabbed her, that's when she would finally activate the death seal.

She couldn't bear it to leave this world without Sasuke. And she couldn't bear to live in a world where he would try to kill her again. They would die together and finally rest in peace, she resolved.

She was selfish, she realized, but she didn't care. Her blood would be his blood, and his blood would be hers. Their souls would rise together into the sky, becoming a pair of crimson stars; the soul of their tiny, unborn child would revolve around them like a half-formed moon.

She could hear Madara approaching and she squeezed her eyes closed tighter, anticipating, even welcoming, the end—

Instead, she felt strong hands grab her, and wind whipped her face. Sakura blinked, coming back to herself. Had Naruto come to save her? When she looked up, she expected to see his familiar whiskered face smiling down at her. Instead, she saw the pale face of a woman, her eyes red and whirling with the sharingan, her long black hair streaming behind her.

"Who—who are you?" Sakura blurted out.

The woman sighed and—was that a tear, glinting red from the glow of her irises? "Don't you recognize me? It's _me_…mom."

Sakura's mouth parted. The woman—who couldn't possibly be her daughter—put Sakura down and formed a series of rapid hand-signs. In a moment, her shadow clone popped into existence. The clone picked up Sakura's limp body and began to run in the opposite direction of the original, who headed right back to Uchiha Madara.

"Who are you?" Sakura repeated weakly, gazing up into the unfamiliar face.

"You have a birthmark shaped like a turtle right on your left shoulder. You have a weird fear of the clowns, and right before I left the village, you had been plucking out a few gray hairs by your temples. You complained that the drugstore didn't carry hair dye in the proper shade of pink," Yuki intoned wearily. "We really don't have time for a touchy feely reunion, mom. the Hokage is _dying._"

"What?!" Sakura shrieked.

The woman—was it really Yuki-chan?—winced. "That was my ear."

"What's wrong with Naruto?"

"I don't know. I was going to help, but then you decided to let Madara _stab_ you." Sakura winced and recoiled from her, as if physically wounded. Yuki inhaled sharply. "Sorry. I know you and dad have a weird history. That must have been really hard for you."

They fell silent after that. Sakura strained to study the woman's face, as if to really confirm that it was Yuki, but tears clouded her vision, and she couldn't see clearly. She couldn't stop trembling, and bit her lip until it bled. _I almost let him kill the baby…_ How could she have been so stupid, so irresponsible? Sakura curled up in Yuki's arms and squeezed her eyes closed, her heart contracting painfully in her chest.

Yuki halted. Through the blur of her tears, Sakura observed that they were on the edge of the clearing, the light of the rising red moon casting everything in a bloody light. What she saw in the red light broke her out of her stupor: she leapt out of Yuki's arms and hit the ground running, shock forcing her to move. Before her, bathed in crimson light, Saki stared blankly into Naruto's face, his eyes rolled up into his head. Regaining her wits, Sakura called, "What happened?"

Hayato was the first to meet her panicked gaze. "The Kyuubi's chakra is devouring Naruto's. It's the effect of Madara's poison. Saki entered his mind with genjutsu…that's when we lost contact with her."

Sakura sank to her knees and began assessing the patient, forcing herself to forget the cause of her former paralysis. On either side of her, Hoshiko and Cho were silent, each channeling healing chakra in a futile effort to ward off the fox's assault on Naruto's body. Yuki's clone strode forward, her eyes spinning. She knelt down by Saki and captured her sister's wide-eyed, unseeing gaze with her own.

#

Ino paced around the makeshift ANBU base camp when two very unexpected things happened.

First, all of Naruto's clones disappeared in multiple poofs of smoke.

"What the—" Ino muttered, but her train of thought was cut off as their group was suddenly surrounded by zombies: two large groups of zombies to be precise. "Oh no! That was _our_ strategy!" she shouted before taking up a defensive position next to her husband. Apparently, the zombies weren't concerned with originality. Ino grit her teeth. _ We were going to sandwich the zombies between two groups of ANBU!_ It looked like the tables had just been turned.

Worst of all, it looked like even _more_ zombies were coming up _through the earth_ to join their comrades. Ino bit back a shriek when an undead hand emerged from the ground and a zombie began clawing its way up from the dirt right next to her.

"Where the hell is Naruto?!" Ino cried.

Next to her, Choji ran his sword through one of the undead, quickly followed by placing an explosion tag in the corpse's chest cavity. "This is bad Ino. This is really, _really_ bad."

They were surrounded on all sides.

And the Hokage was nowhere to be seen.

#

Tsunade gazed out from the Hokage tower. So far, everything had been quiet in Konoha. The sunset was especially dazzling tonight: a sinking yolk of sun stained the low hanging clouds a brilliant crimson. But the sight didn't strike Tsunade as beautiful: in fact, to her, it looked like a bad omen.

_Bad omens..._ With a start, Tsunade took that day's paper from a pile on her desk and compared it to her lottery ticket. The numbers all matched up. Tsunade had just won a large sum of money.

Her heart sank.

Next to her, one of Naruto's clones was picking its nose and admiring the sunset. It noticed Tsunade's crestfallen face and asked, "Hey, what's wrong granny—"

But the clone could not complete his sentence. Without warning, he disappeared.

Tsunade gaped in mute horror.

"Tsunade-sama! Naruto's clones have all just disappeared from the front lines!" Shizune shouted a moment later.

Tsunade clenched her fists, her fingernails digging into her palms. She strode over to her walkie talkie and roared, "Shikamaru! What's happening on the front lines?"

"Kchhh. I was just about to contact you Tsunade-sama. We've spotted hundreds of creatures rising up out of the ground about one-hundred meters from Konoha's gates."

"An army of undead," she breathed.

"Kchhh. Permission to attack, Tsunade-sama?"

It was silent for a moment on the line. Finally, Tsunade spoke. "Permission granted."

"Kchhh. Roger that."

Hinata, who had been silent up until now, turned towards Tsunade. "It's started then."

Tsunade nodded heavily. "You should get to the shelters, Hinata-sama. You're pregnant."

"Tsunade-s-sama? I-I…" Hinata began, then paused fearfully.

"What is it?" Tsunade asked, staring out of the window and gazing at the setting sun with mounting dread.

"I-I've d-done something awfully f-foolish..."

Tsuande sighed impatiently. "I'm going to have to lead an army soon. Either spit it out or go to the shelters—we don't have time to screw around."

"I allowed Team Five to go to Akash!" she blurted out.

Tsunade simply stared at her for a moment before roaring incredulously. "You WHAT?!"

"I-I..." Hinata took a shuddering breath before continuing, "I a-allowed them to go. I thought…I thought that N-Naruto—" She broke off with a strangled cry, then inhaled sharply. W-What's happening out there?" She turned to Tsunade, horror-struck, her face as pale as her wide white eyes.

"I don't know," Tsunade replied after a pregnant pause. "Naruto's clones were supposed to be our line of communication..." And now in all likelihood, Naruto was injured. Or worse.

Tsunade raked her hands through her hair. The situation was more dire than she thought.

**#**

It seemed that Saki had been screaming for an eternity before the demon fox snarled at her and snapped at her feet with his wicked teeth. _I've got to capture his gaze!_ Saki thought wildly as she dodged the fox's attacks. But every time she thought she was close to ensnaring him in genjutsu, the beast's chakra flared and momentarily blinded her, deflecting her jutsu.

_Damn it! I'm an Uchiha! I should be able to __**do**__this! _She thought fearfully, dodging the fox's malevolent chakra.

Except that Saki was seven, and had just spent the entire afternoon ripping the hearts out of zombies and lighting them on fire. To be honest, she was running on pure adrenaline at this point. Having had absolutely no experience on how to control rabid tailed beasts, Saki was rapidly coming to the conclusion that she was completely out of her league here. But she was _not_ going to give up. She wove the hand-signs for fireball jutsu, shot kunai and shuriken at the beast, but she was starting to tire_. _Already, her arms were scored with multiple burn marks, and blood dripped from her leg.

_I think you need the incredibly powerful and version of the sharingan for this to work,_ Saki thought mournfully as she (barely) dodged the fox's claws again. _Time for me to get the hell out!_ However, when Saki tried to disperse the jutsu she had used to enter into Naruto's mind, she found that she _couldn't leave._

"Damn it, fox! Let me out of here!"

The fox commenced to cackle, a laugh which sounded like pure evil to Saki's ears. It sent shivers down her spine, and cold sweat formed on her brow. Behind her, she heard a groan, and she swiveled to look behind her—

And there was Naruto, his body pale and floating helplessly under dark, murky water. _That's it! If I can just wake up Hokage-sama—_

However, as soon as she had the idea, the fox swiped at her again and tore a bloody gauge in her flesh. With a cry, Saki backed away and funneled healing chakra into her torn arm, but much to her horror, the flesh would not heal_._

Just as she was about to throw care to the wind and dive down towards Nartuo's body under the waves—because after all, if she had been injured by the fox, she was probably already infected as well, so she might as well use her dying breath to save the Hokage who was probably the only one who could deal with this mess anyway—a hand grabbed onto the back of her dress and hauled her out of the dark pool.

"You'll kill yourself if you go down there in your condition," a strange woman growled at her. Saki blinked and stared into eyes that mirrored her own, irises blood red and spinning. Saki noted that the pattern on her eyes was different than commas, but yet was somehow _familiar.._

Saki continued to blink in confusion as the stranger healed her arm: the nasty gash was gone in a matter of moments. "The poison Madara used was specially formatted for Hokage-sama," the woman intoned in a gravelly voice, "you need not worry about being infected too."

"Y-Yuki? Yuki-chan?" Saki mouthed incredulously. She would know this healing chakra _anywhere. _Growing up, Yuki and Saki often had to practice their medical ninjutsu on each other at Sakura's insistence.

The older girl grinned. "Yuki-_san_ to you."

Saki open and closed her mouth, but no words came out. Finally, she managed, "The fox! What did you...?"

Yuki shrugged. "I told the damn thing to sit down, shut up, and behave."

"What! I just busted my ass to—" Saki, who at this point was fuming, but Yuki broke in.**  
><strong>"You need the mangekyo to truly control the fox," she said matter-of-factly. "Listen, Hokage-sama's brain is no place for us to have an _argument._ I'm going to haul his body up, and then you're going to help me get him _out._ Okay?"

Without waiting for an answer, Yuki dove into the dark waters of Naruto's mind. Saki crossed her arms and huffed, "Geez. She may _look_ different, but she's still a freaking _pain."_ Saki colored slightly, supposing that she shouldn't complain too much. After all, Yuki had just rescued her sorry ass. And then, the strange reality of the situation hit her: why did Yuki look so much older? And where the hell did she just come from? And how could she—

But Saki had no more time for her thoughts. Yuki surfaced with Naruto, the latter looking dangerously pale. "Saki, break the genjutsu! Now!"

"But it didn't work before—"

"DO IT!"

_Bossy as always, _Saki inwardly moaned while she tried her best to dispel the genjutsu. This time, it worked.

Saki blinked rapidly, finding herself staring at a sputtering Hokage, and with horror, she realized that he was coughing up blood.

"Cho-san! Use your mind-jutsu again and plug us all in! Like you were doing before!" Yuki ordered.

Cho looked at the stranger questioningly, but Saki spat, "Do it Cho! It's my idiot sister! Trust me!"

If the situation hadn't been so dire, it was likely that Yuki would have smacked her younger sister. As it was, the Hokage was vomiting a river of blood, and there wasn't much time.

Saki felt vaguely nauseous as she was connected to five other people's consciousness, each with a different perspective on Naruto's condition. With a start, she realized that her _mother_ was connected to her as well, but she forced herself to concentrate on the matter at hand, instead of wondering when and how Sakura had joined them.

"Focus! I need you all to look through my eyes," Yuki barked.

Saki closed her own eyes and was surprised to see the vivid detail that was Naruto's system, as perceived through Yuki's eyes. It did not look good; his body looked like more like a mealy apple with worm holes than a proper body. Yuki spoke again, "I've suppressed the fox's chakra for now; the genjutsu should hold for about twenty-four hours. In the meantime, the fox's chakra won't devour the Hokage's anymore, but it won't help him repair either. I need you four to feed him chakra and repair his organs as best you can until we can work out an antidote. Now!"

With a collective grunt, the four medics did as you were told. As they worked, Sakura asked, "What about you?"

Yuki shook her head. "I'm just a clone, and I've about used up all the chakra I have. You all _stay here._ I'm going to take care of Madara."

"That's suicide! Yuki—" Sakura tried to protest, but she was cut off.

"Mom. I'll be fine. I'm not going in alone." And with that, her clone was gone in a puff of smoke.

"What the hell does that mean?" Sakura hissed between clenched teeth.

"Mom!" Saki shouted, sweat covering her face as she worked on mending Naruto. "Just trust Yuki. She's gotten us this far, hasn't she?"

"Please. Please, let's focus on my father," Hoshiko whispered.

The other three nodded and continued their work while Hayato silently kept guard over them, though he sometimes broke the quiet to give advice on how to approach the situation. Saki silently thanked the spirits for putting the Nara genius on her team as she funneled the very last drops of her chakra into the Hokage's body.

_Please, Naruto-sama, please be okay._

#

Somewhere, in the deepest recesses of Madara's consciousness, Sasuke watched his hands reach out to murder his wife.

And when a dark blur ran before him, her mane of black hair trailing behind her like a storm cloud before she disappeared with Sakura in her arms, Sasuke could not find it within himself to be relieved, because here he was, again, as he was that day when he had almost stabbed Sakura in the back.

This was unforgivable.

He was truly unredeamable.

He had given Madara his hands, his body, the ability to _kill_ and _murder_. It was Sasuke's hands that held the knife. Even if he ever got out of this alive (which he doubted he would) he would _never_ forgive himself.

He had almost destroyed his wife and child, the two most precious things in the world.

_Sakura, why? Why didn't you kill me? Why?_

A moment later, the woman with long dark hair, pale skin, and red swirling eyes was facing him. And when he looked into her eyes, he saw a pattern that he had come to know so well in the past: it was the geometric design of his own mankegyo sharingan, with a few differentiations.

The woman who stood before him was his very own daughter, Yuki.

_No! _ He wanted to shout at her to run away; instead, she stood with grim determination, her irises spinning. If Sasuke still had a heart of his own, instead of being locked in the prison of his own body, he imagined that it would be beating wildly right now.

Sasuke's lips parted, and words that were not his own spilled out:

"Uchiha Yuki. What a pleasant surprise. It's no bother at all that you've squirreled away your mother, because your death alone will _definitely_ help to bring out the next evolution of my doujutsu." And with that, his-mouth-that-was-not-his-own turned upwards in a sinister grin, and his hands gripped a poison kunai, once again aiming it at a loved-one's heart.

Yuki did not move.

And somewhere, in the corner's of Madara's mind, Sasuke wept.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading lovelies:) Please review!<br>_


	42. Chapter 42: Evading Death

Welcome back! Sorry for the cliff hanger, hope the update makes up for it!

:)

* * *

><p><em>What treason did we commit, other than to be born,<em>

_to bury our dead, to properly morn?_

_The wind blows in the east and storms in the west_

_we wander the mountain ever evading death._

-The Third book of Akash, Verse Four

_Chapter 42: Evading Death_

Shikamaru jabbed his walkie talkie. "Tsunade-sama? Tsunade-sama, _come in_."

As he waited for a response, one of the undead-zombie-freaks threw a barrage of poisoned senbone in his general direction. Thankfully, his wife blew them all away with the deft motions of her fan. Temari was panting from the exertion, but the battle was far from over. It seemed that for every zombie they incapacitated, another rose from the earth and took its place.

Finally, the walkie talkie became active. "Kchhh. Shikamaru! What's happening by the front gate?" came Tsunade's bark.

"It's not good," he replied with a grimace. "We're sorely outnumbered. And even though the antidote will keep a shinobi alive after they're hit…" Shikamaru stated, while incapacitating a zombie with his shadow just as the soldier attempting to scale the walls. The Nara took the hissing ninja and threw him at another group of zombies who were trying to set ladders up against the walls, successfully foiling their attempts. At least for a moment.

"Kchhh. Shikamaru?"

"Sorry, busy. I was saying. Even thought the shinobi doesn't die, he's incapacitated and is no longer able to fight."

"Kchhh. It's the same story over at the other parts of the walls, too. We're completely surrounded. Analysis?"

"Not good, Hokage- er, I mean, Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru winced at his slip.

"Kchhhh. DON'T TALK LIKE THAT SHIKAMARU!" Shikamaru winced again at Tsunade's shout. "Naruto's still alive. He has to be! He wouldn't dare die while he's Hokage."

"Damn straight!" Temari bellowed into the walkie talkie before pushing back another group of zombies with a gust of wind.

"Analysis…" Shikamaru replied at last. "We can probably hold for another hour. Maybe two. But we're going to need some _serious_ back up if we're going to withstand this."

Tsunade hissed on the other end. "Kchhh. I'm dispatching Katsuyu's clones to heal the wounded. Maybe she can get some ninja back on their feet. Until then, continue engaging with the enemy!"

Shikamaru didn't even bother responding. He had his hands full commanding the legion of ninja guarding the front gate. As he barked orders, his heart sank. He'd crunched the numbers and analyzed hundreds of scenarios: none of them looked good.

They had been counting on Naruto's transportation jutsu to help bring back-up from Suna, the nearest hidden village. Without him, it was a long journey to the Hidden Leaf, and now, without their Hokage their back up wouldn't make it on time_._ They were on their own.

Shikamaru had told the Hokage that he was spreading himself too thin in this operation, but his concerns had been glossed over in Naruto's haste to save Sasuke and Yuki. Shikamaru wished he'd been more adamant with Naruto about the village's security, but in all honesty, Naruto had always seemed _invincible._

No one ever imagined the Hokage going down in a fight.

Shikamaru gulped. In his heart, he had wanted to believe that Naruto was all right, but the facts were facts. After careful consideration, Shikamaru knew it was all too possible that Naruto was dead.

And it was all Shikamaru's fault.

"We need explosion tags thrown right in the thick of their forces on the left!" Shikamaru ordered his troops. Soon, the smell of gunpowder and burning flesh wafted on the air. Shikamaru saw another one of his ninja get struck down with a kunai and bit his lip until it bled. His comrades were falling, and there was no one to blame but their commander, Shikamaru.

The best they could hope for was to evacuate the civilians out of the village before it was completely overrun with zombies. Hoping against hope, he told himself to hold on for just a few more minutes. Naruto was known for making miracles happen, for ruining all of Shikamaru's precise calculations, and for the better.

For the first time since the last ninja war, Shikamaru prayed for a miracle.

#

Madara stabbed Yuki with the glinting kunai, but the latter made no motion to move to avoid his attack. Instead, she dematerialized her body at the spot where he hit her, while simultaneously sending a fire ball jutsu straight into his face. When the smoke cleared, Madara reappeared many feet away from her, having transported himself at the last possible second.

"Well isn't this just delightful! Yuki-chan, I can't _begin_ to tell you how fun this spar is going to be. It's been at least a decade since I've had a proper work out. But tell me child, where did you learn my old jutsu?"

Ignoring his convivial tone, Yuki went straight into attack mode. _I've got to get him while he's engaged in an offensive move. He's underestimating me. It will be his last, fatal flaw,_ Yuki calculated. She flew at him with kunai and explosive tags, pursued him around the clearing until they were just two dark blurs flying over the field and shot fireballs the size of small buildings at him. But Madara seemed completely unfazed.

"How can you be so cruel to your dear old dad?" Madara called in that fake, syrupy voice. "You could have burned his face off back there, you know."

"You're not my father," Yuki spat. "You are my psychopathic great great uncle who's possessed my idiot father's body."

A thoughtful look passed Madara's face as he dodged Yuki's attacks. "Actually, I think I'm your great great _great_ uncle."

Ignoring his sorry excuse for a joke, Yuki demanded, "Why would killing _me_ activate some kind of jutsu upgrade for you?"

"My, aren't you the live wire?" Madara practically cooed. "Well, I'd like to see if these quasi-rinnegan, quasi-sharingan eyes will get some kind of mankegyo upgrade once I kill someone dear to Sasuke-kuuuuuun. And I can just tell that his optical nerves are going to get all _kinds_ of crazy when I slaughter you are rip your pretty little eyes out of your head."

_He's just playing with me,_ Yuki mused as she attacked with a taijutsu combination, which Madara neatly avoided by dematerializing his body at will. _He's not even going on the offensive. _That was fine though: in reality, Yuki was merely playing with him as well. "Tell me, great great great uncle, what do you hope to achieve by doing all of this?" she intoned gravely as she continued to attempt to land a hit on him.

Madara merely shrugged as he avoided her movements. "When you get to be as old as I am Yuki-chan, living long enough for three lifetimes, one gets awfully _bored._ Oh, and your father did ruin my plans for world domination about a decade ago. So, I'd say it's a combination of boredom and revenge, with a nice big helping of aiming for world domination again. But to be honest, mostly boredom and revenge," he replied mirthfully, a creel smirk twisting his mouth.

Yuki couldn't help it: her stony facade was broken by a look of sheer incredulity. "You've literally ruined my dad's life, and are trying to kill my whole family, and probably all of Konoha...because you are _bored." _It was not a question.

Madara made a _tut-tutting_ sound. "Yuki-chan, please don't forget the revenge part."

"Don't you call me Yuki-chan!" she raged, losing her cool completely. She transported herself rapidly all around the elder Uchiha and let loose with a wide range of taijutsu, pummeling him with her arms and legs with all of her might. Most of her blows missed, but she noted with a grim satisfaction that some found purchase in his flesh. Her satisfaction faded, however, when she realized that any injury she dealt him was truly given to her father.

As she danced around Madara like an insane, homicidal shadow, flitting through dimensions with practiced ease, she made the mistake of looking into her enemy's face. Her father's face. Her latest flare of rage aside, up until this point, she had been the stony-faced, collected Uchiha kunoichi she had always prided herself on being: lethal, brilliant, and calculating. But when she saw her father's face, askew with the emotions of another, her heart leapt in her chest. She paused on the battlefield, panting for breath, her heart pounding like a drum inside of her ribs and aching, as if her heart was attempting to cry the tears her eyes refused to weep.

This was a sight a child should never see, their father's body hijacked by someone else who was trying to kill you in the most "entertaining" way possible. And no matter how Yuki steeled herself against her emotions, her facade cracked. A single, recalcitrant tear ran down her face. She balled her hands into fists and looked down at her father's hands.

"Seems like you _are_ upset about hurting your dear old papa. Silly girl!" Madara laughed in an annoying sing-song voice. "Your death will be the most fun I've had in years."

Quickly, her grief was replaced by anger. She pushed away the memories—star gazing with her otousan on warm summer nights by the training grounds; how she rode on her father's shoulders as he took her to her first day of school; the way he played guitar, so soft and sad like he was afraid of breaking the strings—she pushed these memories deep inside of herself and forced chakra into her hands, boiling with rage. If she wasn't prepared to utterly destroy her enemy, she would never win.

"That's it, Yuki-chan! The blood lust! The intent to kill! It's what I live on, it's what I feed on, yes, yes! Come at me!" The look in Madara's eyes was pure madness, gleaming red from the moon and purple from his ringed irises. In the rutilant light the man in her father's body looked more like a demon than a person.

_No, _she thought, balling her fists with newfound determination, _I will not sink to his level. Kami, give me strength._ The look of disappointment on Madara's borrowed face was ignored by Yuki as she closed in to attack him once more.

_I fight because I love my otousan, and I will fight his body until I beat the invader out of it. It is an act of love,_ she swore. She let those beautiful memories bubble up again, her very earliest memories: Sasuke pushing her on a swing in the park. Her father telling her ghost stories late at night and Yuki laughing at them instead of being scared. She remembered when Saki-chan was born, and her father letting Yuki hold her. These were the precious things she was fighting for.

As she unleashed more fire katon, and the smell of smoke and charred hair filled the clearing, some idle part of Yuki's mind mused that she actually felt _sorry_ for Madara, and she said as much. "I pity you, Uchiha Madara."

Through the billowing smoke, Yuki heard cruel laughter. "I will make you eat those words, you chit of a ninja." At that, she felt the magnetic pull of Madara's jutsu, but before she could get sucked in, she quickly dematerialized and traveled to another dimension.

But when she got there, a space solely comprised of modular units and a thin, watery darkness, Madara appeared, still laughing wildly.

"No," Yuki murmured, composed in the face of his madness, "I really do pity you. You must have not known love, or if you did, then you quickly forgot it in the face of great pain. No one in their right mind would wreck this much sorrow for nothing."

Madara pointed at her accusingly, all trace of supercilious mirth gone. "You have no idea what you are talking about, girl." And that's when Madara began attacking her—_really_ attacking her. Their bodies traveled across the wide expanses of alternate dimensions, flinging themselves at each other with the deftness only true ninja possessed, a lethal dance across time and space. Yuki received a few gashes on her upper arm and torso, but she wasn't worried about the poison; she knew was immune to it at this point.

No, what she was worried about was the look in Madara's eye, the look that said he was going to go in for the kill soon. She was running out of _time._

_Please Kami, _she prayed, _help me stall him._

"Uchiha Madara," she intoned gravely once they returned to the grassy clearing in ordinary reality, "I'm asking you—no, I'm _begging_ you—let my father go."

The killing intent lessened slightly from him, though Yuki found it to still be overwhelming. Madara laughed, the cold sound sending shivers down her spine. Pausing in his attacks, he murmured "My _dear_. I will do whatever I damn well _please._ I am not going to listen to some scrap of a girl! But I will delight in sucking the chakra out of your body once I slice through that pale, pretty neck of yours."

Yuki suppressed a shudder, the mental image of a large spider sucking out her blood making her nauseous. Schooling herself to remain impassive, she retorted, "Haven't you lived long enough? Aren't you ready to join your brother in death?"

"Fool," Madara hissed, "I. Can't. Die. It's called the little curse of the eternal mankegyo, my dear."

"My father traded his eternal mankegyo to save his friend's life," Yuki whispered. "You can use izangi like he did and remove yourself from my father's body. Go and rest. You don't need to _do_ this anymore!"

"I'm through messing around, child," Madara whispered; the sound was more like a hiss, and it curdled her blood. "I don't need to be lectured. What I _need_ is your life force. For your death to be a catalyst for my rebirth! New power for my eyes! For my—"

"Oh shove it, you old geezer," Yuki spat as she took a leap back from the insane man. With her sharingan eyes, she had_ seen_ the hand-signs he had been weaving, and she did not want to get pulled into his magnetic force again. It had been a huge effort to transport herself out of shinra tensei the _first _time.

But with horror, Yuki realized that he had not been preparing to use the shinra tensei at all: instead, a demon's head spurted up from the ground, and its ridiculously long tongue was reaching out for her. She paused in shock, and her hesitancy cost her. Before she was half-way done with the hand-signs to teleport away, the tongue had already bound her and brought her close to Madara.

"And now," he breathed, his eyes glinting hard in the red moonlight, "you die."

#

Saki could feel her body converting any extra fat and protein stored in her cells into chakra. She wiped her brow and forced herself to continue to help mend Naruto's organs. Soon, she knew, her body would start destroying her own cells for energy, but she tried to ignore that fact.

Sakura raised an eyebrow as she worked on mending Naruto's heart. "We're making good progress. But..."

"We're going to need to get him back to the Konoha hospital, and soon," Hayato mused. "I'm no medical nin, but even I can see that his organs have been severely damaged."

Naturally taking the reins, Sakura continued, "If the Kyuubi were helping him with chakra, it'd be another story. As it is... Kids, take a break. I can stabilize the patient for a while—"

"No! Let us help!" Hoshiko shouted, all the while her hands were trembling from chakra depletion.

"Hoshiko. If you're going to be of any more use, take a rest," Sakura murmured softly. "He'll be _fine_ with me for a little while."

Saki was about to protest, but she realized that her own limbs were trembling with overexertion. "Cho-san," she mumbled in her weariness, "why don't you dispel the mind-jutsu? I know it takes a lot of power."

Cho simply nodded, then collapsed on the grass by Naruto's feet. "Let's rest for a few minutes, then I have some soldier pills we can all take."

The rest of the children murmured their agreement before throwing themselves on the ground. Sakura clenched her teeth and continued to work on Naruto's heart and lungs. In truth, Naruto was far from being in stable condition, but she saw no need to exhaust the children in the process. She had been completely useless thus far. It was only right that she should take up the burden of healing Naruto.

She worried that he wouldn't have enough chakra to heal himself. But as she worked on healing Naruto's tissues, a soft, blue energy began swirling into his body. _Nature chakra,_ Sakura mused silently to herself. She was sure of it, because as she healed Naruto's body—and hence, increased his body's ability to mould chakra— his body's chakra reserves continued to be replenished. _Thank Kami for Naruto's Sage Mode,_ she thought, relieved. With the new chakra flowing in, it shouldn't take long to fully heal him.

Sakura heard gentle snores around her and smiled. The children had well deserved their rest. "Hayato," she called softly to the one genin still standing, "how are you holding up?"

The Nara shrugged. "Better than my teammates I suppose. But I'm worried about Yuki."

Sakura's joy at Naruto's stabilizing condition evaporated instantly. "Can you see them at all?"

Hayato shook his head. "No. Not a thing. I think we should wake Hoshiko?"

Sakura replied, "She needs to rest or she won't have the chakra to use her byakugan."

"I know. But I'm also worried about another thing. Shino-san said he would send us ANBU back-up about an hour ago. However, the back-up hasn't yet arrived."

Sakura shook her head gently from side to side. "We need to concentrate on the task at hand. Right now, if we don't do our jobs, Naruto might..." Sakura trailed off at that thought. Naruto had always been _invincible_ in her eyes, and it was harrowing to see him in such a pitiful state. Truly, Madara had planned his use of poison well. "We let her rest another five minutes."

"Okay." Hayato went back to silently scouring their surroundings for threats while Sakura poured her chakra into repairing Naruto's organs. Thankfully, it seemed like the first organs to rupture were the ones that were easier to repair, like the liver. The heart and lungs, though, they had sustained minimal damage, but _any_ damage at all to these essential organs was worrisome. _I just have to trust him. He'll pull through, he always does... _

Sakura repeated these words like a mantra as she worked, because she knew that she had been utterly _useless_ again that day, had almost thrown away her own life and the life of the baby in her body. Unbidden, tears streaked down her face at the memory of what had happened not long ago. How could she give up her resolve to save Sasuke so easily? She tried to convince herself that Madara had been using some genjutsu to make her stand still like a startled deer, but she knew it wasn't true.

She was always getting in the way.

The one area in which she excelled was medical jutsu. It was the only thing that she could really do well, that she could hold her convictions and her strength to reclaim lives from the death god's icy hand. And with that thought, she funneled all her disappointment, and anger, and dark, dark sorrow, into her hands, and with rekindled determination, she put as much chakra as she dared into her dear friend.

In a few moments, she was rewarded for her efforts: Naruto's eyes fluttered open. She put a steady hand on his forehead to keep him from trying to rise and softly called, "Naruto-kun! Don't move. You've been severely wounded."

Naruto blinked for a few moments, and Sakura began to worry that perhaps there had been some brain damage, but thankfully, her worries on the matter were assuaged when he finally spoke. "What...happened?" he asked in little more than a croak.

"Otousan! You're okay!" Hoshiko sprang up from the grass and practically threw herself at her father, stopping short of his body only by a few inches when she remembered he was _injured._

"Hoshiko-chan," he replied quietly, a soft smile on his lips. He tried to raise an arm to reach out to her but lacked the strength.

"Otousan! I was so worried..." she began, her lower jaw trembling.

"Heh. Sorry..." Naruto whispered. "Forgive me 'Shiko-chan."

Hoshiko broke down in tears. Sakura was about to put a comforting hand on the girl's back, but realized that Saki was already taking care of it. Hating to ruin the moment, but also aware of the battles raging on around them, Sakura broke in.

"Hoshiko-chan. Now's not the time for tears. I'm going to keep working on your father here, but you need to use your doujutsu. We need to know what is going on with Yuki and Madara—"

"What!" Naruto tried to shout, but it came out as more of a shrill gasp. Sakura groaned and held him down firmly but gently, before he could rise.

"Idiot! Don't break yourself! Yuki is fighting Madara—"

"That's insane!" he shouted as he struggled to rise.

"Naruto. Stop it! I...I have faith in her." Sakura smiled. "Plus, she mentioned that she wouldn't be fighting him alone. I want to know who's helping her. Hoshiko?"

Nodding enthusiastically, she activated her doujutsu and swung her head around to the center of the clearing. "I...I can't see anyone... Hold on!"

But after searching valiantly, she still couldn't see a thing. Sakura hissed. "It's possible he's transported her to another dimension..."

"Genjutsu?" Naruto offered in his gravelly voice.

Hoshiko shook her head and then gasped. "Wait. I see them! They're just moving so _fast._ Whoah. I didn't know your sister could fight like that." In a moment, when Cho had connected their minds together so they could all see what the byakugan user was seeing, Saki chimed, "I didn't know she could fight like that _either._ What the hell happened to her?"

Hayato stepped in at this point. "Hoshiko-chan, what are the other ANBU doing now?"

Naruto, from his prone position on the ground, chuckled. "You say that...like you're an ANBU now, too. Those clothes are a little big on you," he managed with good humor. Hayato colored at this, realizing that all of their pilfered ANBU clothes now hung quite loosely off of their smaller bodies. With a smile, Naruto asked, "Cho-chan? Connect me in as well. I want to see."

"Of course, Hokage-sama!" Cho popped a soldier pill in her mouth and in a moment, Naruto could see as Hoshiko swiveled her head around to the opposite direction.

"There's a barrier between us and the ANBU," he muttered darkly.

"Oh no. The barrier is being fueled by the zombies," Sakura added with a shiver. Indeed, in a wide perimeter around the clearing, a circle of the undead were creating a gleaming red shield. The two disciples of the Sanin looked at each other, and it didn't take a mind connection jutsu for them to understand each other's thoughts: was the barrier to keep them in, or to keep the ANBU out?

"That would answer my question as to why the ANBU didn't get here sooner," Hayato mumbled. "Madara is after _all _of us," he concluded.

"We need to help her," Naruto called softly, but above him, Sakura, who had been working steadily on him this whole time, shook her head.

"Naruto-kun. You didn't see her. We would just get in her way," she replied sadly, "like the time you took on Pein and told everyone not to interfere."

Sakura exhaled sharply, remembering Yuki's firm hands that had recently saved her from certain death, her daughter's determined eyes, rutilant and tattooed with the black, the geometric patterns of the mankegyo. There was strength and purpose in those hands, and certainty in those eyes.

Upon seeing the mental image of her daughter in her mind's eye, Sakura's own resolve strengthened, her own purpose became clear. "We need to work on getting you well enough to hiraishin us all back to the village, Naruto," she ordered.

Naruto nodded, but his eyes looked bleak. "Forgive me. Hoshiko-chan, keep an eye on Yuki. Cho, is it much trouble to keep the mind connection up?"

"None at all," she murmured.

As Sakura, Saki, and Cho got back to work on putting Naruto back together again, Hoshiko and Hayato keep sentry. Not that they were able to see much: Madara and Yuki were blurs on the battlefield, and even the byakugan was little use in surveillance.

However, just as Sakura had begun to relax, Naruto gasped.

"What is it Naruto-kun!" Sakura asked, her hackles up once again.

"He's summoned the naraka path! And it's got Yuki!"

Sakura closed her eyes. "Connect me to the juts, Cho-chan." Naruto was in stable enough condition. If she needed to protect her daughter from Madara, she would. No more reservations. No more fear.

If Yuki was in serious trouble, Sakura was going to use the death seal on Sasuke's body, as he had wanted. She would _end_ this, once and for all.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading and please, review!<em>


	43. Chapter 43: Beyond the Veil

Yay, so happy to finally update! Special thanks and kudos to guest reviewer kingsley for reading all 42 chapters in one go. You just made my day:)

* * *

><p><em>She sees that which is beyond the eye,<em>

_above the pale moon, the floor of the sky;_

_traveling between heaven and earth,_

_unraveling the mysteries of death and birth._

_~The Third Book of Akash, Verse Six_

Chapter 43: Beyond the Veil

The blood drained from Sakura's face as she watched the demon's tongue closing in around Yuki, drawing her dangerously close to Madara. She let the healing chakra fade from her fingertips and readied herself to make the hand-signs to activate the death seal. She would wait until the last possible second, but she swore that she would not stand idly by while Sasuke allowed Madara to kill their eldest daughter. No. She was firm in her resolve. No more hesitation. No more weakness.

Madara's kunai drew near to Yuki's exposed throat. Sakura gritted her teeth. _This is it!_ She ignored the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, ignored the fact that she would kill her own husband in front of their children. Her hands formed the seals: Ram, Tiger, Ram, Snake—

Naruto gripped Sakura's wrists, and the thread of chakra was broken. Her lips parted is surprise.

"Sakura—wait."

"But—"

"Trust me," Naruto rasped, "just _watch._"

She gulped, closed her eyes, and watched through Hoshiko's vision. Her lips parted in a silent cry as Madara slit Yuki's neck. A line of blood arced across Yuki's pale skin. Dimly, she heard one of the genin beside her scream, but it was hard to hear it over the roar of blood in her ears. _No!_

Just as Sakura was about to make a mad dash for her daughter, Yuki's body disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Naruto!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice quiet so that the genin wouldn't hear her, but unable to mask her fury. "Why didn't you _tell_ me that was a shadow clone?!"

Naruto grimaced. "I didn't want the enemy to overhear us."

Sakura struggled to make her ragged breathing even, doing all she could to contain her shock. _Focus on the task at hand,_ she told herself, forcing her hands to stop shaking. _Everything is alright now. _But was it alright? She could hear Saki nearby hiccuping with suppressed sobs, but she didn't have the heart to comfort the girl. Not after what Sakura had almost done…

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked in a worried voice. Sakura just shook her head, unwilling to let her gaze meet his.

Before Naruto could say anything further, Sakura split her consciousness again between healing the Hokage and watching the scene between Madara and Yuki unfold through the lens of Hoshiko's byakugan. She ignored the leaden, twisting feeling in her stomach. Now was the time to focus on healing the Hokage, she told herself, willing herself to concentrate. She knew her guilt would descend upon her later, in the quiet aftermath of the war. She knew the nightmares would come, knew she wouldn't be able to sleep. Not after almost activating the death seal. Sakura pushed down the guilt, rising like the bile at the back of her throat, and concentrated on seeing what Hoshiko was seeing.

It seemed as though Yuki's true form materialized from thin air, right in the middle of the clearing, slamming two bloody hands down on the ground. The wind picked up, howling as it shook the trees and littered the ground with leaves. From Yuki's outstretched palms, black scrolling runes spread out over the earth, forming five concentric rings of ancient writing around her. Yuki's mouth parted, saying something that Sakura could not hear, before a blinding burst of light seared Sakura's vision. Hoshiko deactivated her byakugan with a cry, and Sakura was also forced to close her eyes in pain.

"What kind of jutsu was that, Naruto-kun?!" Sakura demanded, tears streaming down her face.

"I can't say for certain," he replied gravely, "but I think it was some kind of summoning jutsu."

#

Shino was panting heavily. Though his bugs had the ability to literally _eat_ the chakra from the zombies, the unfortunate truth was that their chakra was so negatively charged, the bugs died soon afterwords. In other words, Shino was almost out of insects. The ANBU commander leapt up into the branches of a large tree and observed his troops from above, while ensconcing himself in a genjutsu.

Things were not looking good. His ANBU were obviously weary, and many had been hit with poison. Thankfully, they had the antidote to stave off death; but even with the antidote, the afflicted ANBU became incapacitated and had to be moved to safety quickly before they were dismembered by zombies.

Shino took a deep breath. Under the best of circumstances, the ANBU could hold only a few more minutes at the most. But this was decidedly not the best of circumstances. Their numbers were dwindling, and it seemed like they had hardly made a dent in the enemy's forces, which were currently still flanking them and closing in fast. There was one area in the enemy's ranks that was weaker than the rest, but it would still be difficult to break through…

There was nowhere to retreat: they were going to have to fight their way out of this or die trying. Or...there was one more possibility. It was the best possibility, really. But still, Shino hesitated. He knew it was unlikely that he would come out of this alive…

"Shino!" Ino hissed as she jumped up onto the branch beside him. "We're officially losing this battle."

"I was thinking the same thing," Shino whispered darkly. He took a deep, steadying breath. For every moment he hesitated, another one of his men would fall. He had to act now. "I have a plan" he said, hoping that Ino didn't notice the tremor in his voice. "I have just enough chakra to make about a dozen bug clones; enough to paralyze the front lines, in that area where their forces are the thinnest. I'll make an opening, and I want everyone else to _run._ Get everyone to carry an invalid comrade—"

"Shino! You idiot," Ino snapped, rounding on him, "that's suicide for you!"

Shino nodded grimly. "I'm perfectly aware—"

"Shino! No," Ino retorted in horror. "I'm not going to leave you!"

"As your commanding officer," Shino buzzed, "you will listen to me. Your skills as a medic are needed right now. I'm issuing the order to make a break for it. Use your mind-jutsu and tell everybody. _Now,_" Shino added when Ino balked.

"Shino..." she replied tearfully, her eyes searching his.

"Do it, Ino."

She took a deep, shuddering breath, and looked away, swiping at her eyes with her sleeve. "Okay," she whispered.

But just as the ANBU assembled, and Shino created his clones, there was a noise: a whirling, a _whooshing!_ though the air, the sound of metal slicing through wind and flesh and the cracking of bones. Stunned, Shino looked around and realized that every single zombie had just collapsed.

And now his company was surrounded by a large group of ninja who wore no forehead protectors. He felt his stomach drop as he realized that a large portion of the strangers had _sharingan_ activated. Were they Uchiha? Or...?

_Oh no,_ Shino thought with horror. Had they just traded in one kind of enemy for another?

Shino and his clones stepped forward on either side of his company. He _would_ protect his comrades. No matter what.

#

It had gotten so desperate in Konoha that Tsunade had joined the ranks. Standing tall on the back of her slug summon, she fought with everything she had. She had already sent her slug clones to every single villager, injured or not. Desperately, she funneled chakra to the injured, but their wounds proved to be beyond Katsuyu's capabilities. And where, pray tell, was Saki—the only Uchiha still within their custody who was _supposed _to be in the village, and known to have cured the chakra virus?

She was in Akash, that's where! Tsunade swore she was about to have an apoplectic fit. She was too old for this, too old to be running around on the front lines on the back of a slug trying—and failing!—to heal people, while simultaneously fending off hordes of evil zombies.

"Shikamaru!" she roared over the intercom. "What the hell is going happening on your end?"

"Kchhh. Sorry lady Tsunade, this is Temari. Shikamaru has been injured."

Even through the walkie talkie, Tsunade could hear the tremor of fear in Temari's voice, though the younger kunoichi tried her best to hide it.

"Damn it," Tusnade muttered. Shikamaru was supposed to have left the front gates and retreated to further in to the city. Damn. Damn! DAMN. Tsunade forced herself to remain calm.

"Temari, I'm stationed just outside the village, by the western wall where the hordes have just busted through. Katsuyu is spitting oil all over the zombies. It's helping, but it's _not_ enough. Status of the front gate?"

"Kchhhh. I've told everyone else to retreat. SWOOSH. I'm holding the gate on my own for now," Temari replied in a tremulous voice. And then, the line went dead.

"What?!" she roared. "Temari! Get out of there! TEMARI!" There was no response. With an agitated shout, Tsunade dismounted from Katsuyu and began to pummel the earth. She was too old for this! _Thwack!_ She was retired, damn it! _Thwack!_ Naruto couldn't be dead! _Thwack!_ She couldn't be reinstated as the Hokage again, she just couldn't! _Twack!_

It couldn't be like the aftermath of the fox's attack, where the Fourth had died and the Third had to become Hokage again. It. _Thwack!_ Just. _Thwack!_ Couldn't. _Thwack!_

With every anxious thought, new seams burst up from her fists through the earth, toppling the zombies into the fresh canyons. But it was not enough; for every hundred of the enemy she knocked over, two hundred crawled out of the ground and took their place.

She was about to witness the annihilation of Konoha.

"NOOOOO!" she roared, as if in response to her own fatalistic thought. She began pounding the earth with newfound ferocity. Konoha would not fall, not while this old, wizened bag of bones could fight; not while she could still feel the Will of Fire burning in her.

But despite her efforts, her regiment was soon surrounded, and she was out of chakra. _That's it_, she thought sadly, tears of frustration flowing down her face. _It's time for the captain to go down with the ship. But I won't go down without taking some zombie bastards with me!_ With a roar, she hit the earth again with the last of her chakra. It fractured weakly, but it was not enough to stop the invading army from getting closer, closer to the breach in the western wall.

The zombies closed in, moaning, grinning their skeletal grins. Tsunade closed her eyes, waiting for the dull groan of the undead to reach her. To crush Konoha at last.

But over the terrible sound of the enemy, the wind rustled, softly at first, then rushing in her face and gaining in intensity until it was a roar. Tsunade opened her eyes and saw that a wave of sand rose between her and the zombie hordes.

"Sand Burial," a harsh voice rasped from just behind her, while the zombies moaned in what she hoped was the anguish of a second death .

Tsunade whirled around. "Gaara! How did you...?" she trailed off, her mouth agape at his presence.

Gaara shrugged with his usual nonchalance. Though it was a three day journey between Konoha and Sand, Gaara had made it in just a few hours.

"I'm the Kazekage. I commanded the sand to carry us," he said simply. He stretched out his neck to the side, and the vertebrae made a popping sound.

"Us?" Tsunade asked incredulously.

"I had to leave behind a large regiment in Suna, but I did bring an expert sealing team." Gaara sighed as all the zombies he had just crushed in his signature sand burial jutsu reemerged from the ground. "Guess I need to focus on crushing just the hearts…" Gaara shook his head and commenced to squeezing the life out of the zombies.

Tsunade was stunned for a moment and merely stared at the young Kazekage for a moment before shouting, "Gaara! Temari is in danger! She's—"

"Kchhh," came the sound of Gaara's walkie-talkie, "Gaara-sama, we've secured the front gate."

"Kchhh. Hey baby brother, nice timing!" Temari's voice chimed over the intercom.

Tsunade slumped down onto her knees on the battle field, completely exhausted and bewildered, her summons looking worried behind her. "Gaara, I don't think I've ever told you how much I appreciate you."

Gaara shrugged. "I think you told me once or twice after the last war, when I bailed you guys out a couple hundred times. Don't worry about it, though."

As Tsunade climbed up onto Katsuyu's back, muttering under her breath about the lack of respect youngsters had for their elders, she looked up at the sky. She prayed that the same starry heavens was looking down at a live and well Naruto-kun.

#

"I summon the spirits of the ancestors!" Yuki wailed into the roaring wind. She felt as if she were standing by the ocean, the way the wind whipped her hair around her. She smelled the salt and the iron of her own blood seeping from her palms, felt the moist earth under her hands, wet with her own blood. The black runes roiled around her like waves when a bright light flashed, brighter than lightning, brighter than the noon-day sun. It contained all the colors of the world, colors not usually seen in this world and not easily described; they were blinding and terrifying, like an enraged phoenix bursting into flame.

That's when the boundaries between the worlds collapsed. Yuki felt it, as if the walls of reality were made of sheer fabric, folding into itself and collapsing like a poorly built house. There was no sun and no moon. The clearing was now lit by an eerie, sourceless light. It was neither day nor night, but an indescribable twilight. And from the deepest shadows, _they_ came.

Shadowy figures quickly encircled Yuki and Madara, and Yuki knew that these were the souls she had called to the earthly plane. She could not make out any of their faces, and felt a thrill of terror run through her. The shadows stood in silence; the wind moaned and clattered in the branches of the trees. Then one figure glided forward, his feet hardly touching the earth as he regarded Madara.

"Izuna," Madara whispered, his mouth parting in shock.

Izuna was illuminated by the eerie light as he stepped forward, so that half of his face was cast in high relief. His smooth, pale face—which bore a striking resemblance to her father—was twisted with grief. The spirit sighed, and the wind moaned all around them. "Madara," the spirit whispered, his words echoing in the cold silence, "this is _enough._ It's time to come home..." Izuna held out his hand to his brother, as if in invitation.

Madara started laughing, a cold, cackling sound that reverberated throughout the clearing like ringing metal. He turned to Yuki, who shivered, even though she was covered in sweat and her hair was clinging damply to her back from exertion. She could feel her hands shaking slightly, still dripping blood. "This is _quite_ the genjutsu, young lady," he said in a haughty voice. "I underestimated you."

Yuki shook her head. "This is _not_ genjutsu," Both she and Izuna replied at the same time. Yuki's mouth opened in surprise at the coordinated response, unsure if he had spoken through her…or not.

Izuna smiled sadly at Yuki. "You explain, young one," he whispered.

"We're in a nexus now," she said to Madara, too exhausted to rise, "a space where all the worlds exist at once. That _really_ is your younger brother—"

Madara crossed his arms and spat in disgust. "Ridiculous," he interjected. "I've traveled between the dimensions for longer than you've been _alive,_ and I've never seen _any_ spirits. There is nowhere that we go after death—no heaven or hell. Nothing but utter oblivion and _nothingness._ You," he pointed to his brother accusingly, "if you _are_ real, where the hell have you been all these years?! While I was suffering," he hissed, his eyes glinting bloodily. "Where the hell _were_ you?!"

Izuna shook his head, his hands outstretched, palms up, as if in surrender. "I was watching over you the whole time, older brother," he whispered.

"Like hell you were!" Madara roared before rounding on Yuki. "You'll die _now,_ girl!" he screamed, his eyes darting wildly. "And your damned genjutsu can die with you!"

He rushed at her with killing intent so fierce, it practically burned her from five feet away. She flinched, but didn't move. She couldn't; she was still shaking from the effort of the jutsu. But she wasn't worried. Just as Madara approached her, the spirits swooped in like a flock of predatory birds and bound him in chains. When the spirits floated away from Madara, the eerie light fell on him, making the chains glow with a ghostly light.

She clenched her teeth and rose on shaky feet, preparing herself to perform the second set of Itachi's instructions, but there was a gentle tap on her shoulder. She turned around slowly, looking up into a face that flickered between the features of Ryuu and Kaito.

"Sorry to crash an Uchiha party," Ryuu—or was it Kaito?—began in his iconic, humorous tone, "but mind if you summon me first?"

Yuki stared at him for a moment in disbelief. "Um..." She was about to argue with him—after all, this wasn't in Itachi's plan—but then, she shook her head, and took a deep, steadying breath. _What could it hurt?_ Yuki thought with a pang. She was still shaking slightly, and wouldn't mind having a friend, right then. "I summon the spirit of Uzumaki Ryuu," she called, in a clear, ringing voice. "Come to me now!"

"Um, I'm right here..." Ryuu said, a grin flickering on his face.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Yuki rolled her eyes and suppressed a snort of laughter. Really, in death, Ryuu hadn't changed at _all_. Grinning wryly, she held out her bloodied palm to him. His hand touched hers, and she felt cold all over, as if a wintry breeze had just blown over her. Then, without any warning, his form wrapped around hers, coating her physical body. It felt a bit like wearing an extra set of heavy clothes. Yuki felt warm again, and happy at the familiar presence.

_Dude! It's totally awesome to have tits!_ he thought at her.

Her happiness quickly turned to irritation, and she would have smacked herself in the face if she had had control of her own limbs. _Can you just do what you need to do already? _she thought at him furiously. She swore to Kami, if he grabbed her _boobs_ while in her body, she would kick his ass all the way to the next world.

_Right. Sorry! _His sheepish reply rang out in her mind, and she could hear his laughter too, bright and sweet like the music of songbirds. Despite herself, she felt her irritation fade quickly, and she would have grinned, if she had had control of her body.

Ryuu took a step forward in Yuki's borrowed form. To Madara, it seemed that Yuki's form had been entirely subsumed by Ryuu's appearance, much like a sacrifice in the edo tensei would take on the appearance of the summoned soul, rather than the person who died for the jutsu. However, unlike the eco tensei, Ryuu's visage shimmered on the edges, as if the boundary between his body and Yuki's was electrified. Ryuu held out his hand, the contours of his flesh burnished with golden light. "I'll be taking my eyes back now, Madara-san," he said coldly.

A swirling vortex of light spun in his outstretched palm. As if called to him, a line of purple light flowed from Madara's face to Ryuu's hand, a beautiful, laser-like light. As it flowed, it leeched the indigo and crimson color from Madara's eyes, until they were bleached as white as bone.

Madara's body went limp in the ghostly chains, and he was panting heavily. "I'm blind," he gasped. "I'M BLIND!"

_Ryuu-kun? I need my body back now._

_Oh! Right._ With that, Yuki felt a gentle rush of wind. It felt as if her face were being brushed with feathers, and with a sigh, she felt that her body was her own once more.

Yuki looked up, blinking rapidly as she realized that Ryuu was gone. She felt a pang at that, but had no time for further thought: now, hovering next to her stood Uchiha Itachi, a look of grim determination on his features.

Steadying her voice, she called, ""I call upon the spirit of Uchiha Itachi—come to me now!" And holding out her bloody palms to him, his spirit overtook her body, though this time, it felt more like being wrapped in thick velvet than in golden, feathery light. Looking out the windows of her eyes, she watched as Itachi formed the hand-signs for _that_ jutsu.

If it was even possible without the control of her body, Yuki felt like she was holding her breath.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks, as always, for reading, and for your lovely reviews. If you liked this chapter, please let me know! :)<em>


	44. Chapter 44: The Final Battle

I can't believe the story is coming to a close. It's been running almost three years! Anyway thanks so much for your kind reviews and PM's. Please enjoy!

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><p>Chapter 44: <em>The Final Battle<em>

Sasuke, imprisoned somewhere in the back of Madara's mind, watched as the sight was leached from his eyes. Just as Madara moaned over his blindness, a profound sense of relief washed over Sasuke. Itachi was here. He would end this war, and Sasuke would finally be released from all of his suffering.

Oddly enough, though, even though he was going blind, Sasuke could still _see._ It was the strangest thing. While the sparse scenery around them, the gnarled trees and smooth polished rocks, all become blurry and dim, he could still see all of the assembled spirits quite clearly. Their grave faces and sharingan eyes appeared to him in perfect relief. He saw the look of pale sorrow wash over Ryuu's face as he took back what had originally been his gift, and he stared in fascination as Yuki's returned to her body, and then somehow became Itachi.

Why couldn't Madara see them as well?

Itachi said something that Sasuke couldn't quite hear over Madara's howling cry, but he could feel Madara's fear: it made his blood run cold as ice. But from the perch inside of his own mind, Sasuke was happy. Itachi could finally return the favor and kill him. At last, he would be absolved of everything. He wouldn't have to suffer or make anyone else suffer because of him.

_Do it, Niisan. Kill us. Make it quick,_ Sasuke thought. If he had had control of his body, he might have smiled.

But Sasuke's joy was short-lived, for at that moment he felt something _blink_ in his _arm._ It took Sasuke a moment to understand what had just happened, as he watched in terror as the Spirit's chains dissolved and Madara became free of his constraints.

Sasuke reeled in surprise as he realized what had just happened: Madara had hidden sharingan in Sasuke's arms, and he had just used izangi to free himself.

"Uchiha Yuki!" Madara roared, "I WILL destroy you!" And with that, he drew back his sleeve, and he revealed an arm studded with at least a dozen sharingan. Sasuke's consciousness recoiled in revulsion. This couldn't be happening! Not when they had almost won. _Please_, he thought with urgency, as if his thoughts could be heard, _please Itachi. Kill me. _

_Please!_

But Sasuke could do nothing but watch in horror as Madara made the familiar hand-signs for susanoo. Sasuke wondered, uselessly, how Madara had had a _mangekyo _sharingan stitched into Sasuke's arm along with all the rest.

His body was possessed by Uchiha Madara, and in his arm was sewn the eyes of his long dead clan members. Sasuke felt sick. He was an aberration, a science experiment gone awry; a rabid beast begging for someone to put it out of its misery.

_Itachi—please!_

#

A blood-red moon rose over the hills of Konoha and dyed everything crimson, only adding Shikamaru's feeling that he was caught in some overdone horror movie production. Except that he wasn't; they were actually fighting zombies. It would be ridiculous if his comrades weren't falling all around him.

"What's the status of the front line?" he croaked into this walkie talkie, his voice long worn out with exhaustion and pain. He had taken a poisoned arrow to the side and could feel the toxins traveling through his system. Despite the antidote, he was alternatively sweating and wracked with chills, and his body ached all over. It was like the flu, only a hundred times worse.

"Kchhh. Shika. _Honey._ Stop calling me and tend to your wounds," was the tart reply on the other end.

"Damn it, Temari!" Shikamaru ground out, "What's going on out there?!"

"Kchhh. How can I kick zombie butt when you're always bothering me?" There was a muffled, shuffling sound, and suddenly, another voice came on the line. "Kchhh. This is Gaara. We're not losing, but we're not winning either."

Shikamaru grunted as he looked up at the full moon. He imagined he could see the moon grinning a caustic, bloody smile as it looked down on Shikamaru through the window of the medical tent. "Explain," Shikamaru asked curtly, his voice thin and reedy.

"Kchhh. We're holding our ground, but just barely. And the zombies keep _coming._ I don't know how long our troops can hold out, because while our ninja are tiring, their soldiers aren't."

"I see," was all Shikamaru said; he closed his eyes against the red glare of the moon and took a deep breath.

"Kchhh. Unless you can think of some genius plan," Gaara drawled, "get some rest. Over and out."

The walkie talkie fell out of Shikamaru's nerveless hand and onto his pallet. _Think brain, think!_ But however hard he tried to think of a so-called genius plan, nothing came to mind. Instead, his brain felt cloudy and his body felt woozy from the effects of the partially neutralized poison.

_Naruto. Where the hell are you!_ Shikamaru thought in frustration. Maybe it was the poison circulating in his brain that was making him think stupid thoughts, but at that moment, Shikamaru decided that if Naruto had really died on them, then he would _kill_ the idiot himself when he got his hands on him. With a derisive snort at his own ridiculous thoughts, Shikamaru rolled over on his mat and faced away from the window, trying to coax a semi-intelligent thought from his brain and failing miserably.

#

"State your business," Shino said tersely to the strange ninja surrounding them.

A short woman with wild, curly hair came forward, her eyes shifting from whirling red to coal black. "We're not your enemies," she said, turning her palms up in a sign of good will.

"You're not our friends, either," Shino replied, trying his best to keep his voice calm. "If I'm correct in my assumptions, your group attacked our Hokage and abducted Uchiha Yuki."

The woman cocked her head to the side and looked at him askance. "Look," she managed with barely repressed annoyance, "right now your village is under attack by a legion of undead. Do you or do you not want me to transport you all there so your village doesn't get destroyed?"

The ANBU corps murmured behind him, but Shino ignored them. "Why should we trust you?" he retorted.

"We have a mutual enemy in The Slaughter," she began.

"The who?" Shino interrupted, thoroughly confused.

She exhaled sharply in exasperation. "We don't like to say his name...it's bad luck. You know, the guy who's currently hijacking Uchiha Sasuke's body and in general is making a muck of things?"

"You mean Madara?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "Did I _not_ just say that using his name is bad luck? Listen, Konoha nin, we'll take care of the situation here; if you don't want your village burned down and all your friends turned into zombies, let me transport you to Konoha. Please," she added, through partially clenched teeth.

"I'm under no duress to take orders from you."

The stranger looked like she was about to pull out her graying hair; but she managed to take a deep breath and steadied herself before replying, "We've just saved you from a crazed army of zombies. _Clearly,_ we are not your enemies! To make a long story short, we've lost a lot of our own people to being zombie-ified, and we're not partial to the idea of having the whole world turned into undead, mindless hordes. Please let us help you. We can escort you to Konoha, and leave behind a fair number of our guard to _help_ you."

Shino was about to formulate a retort, but Ino placed a hand on his arm to stall him. "Kunoichi," Ino stated in a clear, shrill voice, "is your name Aya?"

Aya blinked. "How did you know my name?" she asked, surprised. "I don't think I've stated it."

Ignoring her, Ino turned to Shino. "Let's trust her Shino—"

"What?!" he cried.

Ino ignored the interruption and continued, "She's the ninja who healed Yuki-chan. I know; I went through Yuki's memories...from the day when Ryuu died."

"Then that also means that she's the ninja who tried to abduct Yuki in the first place, and who likely succeeded the second time Yuki disappeared," Shino replied darkly, trying to reason with her.

Ino shook her head. "That's not how Yuki saw it. Aya helped her, and now Aya is trying to help us to keep Konoha from becoming a zombie apocalypse playground. Come on Shino. _Trust me_," she begged.

Shino looked between Ino and the petit, potentially dangerous Kunoichi named Aya. "I guess she did just save us from our untimely demise..." Shino agreed reluctantly.

"Yosh! Aya, we'll follow your plan! How do you propose to get us to Konoha?"

Aya gave Ino a grateful grin before forming a complicated series of hand-signs. The ground shook slightly, then a silver disk of light appeared in the middle of the air. It hummed with an otherworldly sound. "Hurry through the portal! This jutsu is difficult to maintain," Aya ordered.

Shino closed his eyes for a moment, not quite sure if he should really be doing this or not. "Ino!" he barked, "Stay here with Karin in case Hokage-sama needs medical assistance!"

Ino pouted. "Aw, I wanted to check out the portal thingie—"

"Ino!" Shino spat back, tired of being contradicted, "you _will_ remain behind. Choji, you stay here and guard them." And with that, Shino ran through the opening in space and time and was gone, along with the rest of the ANBU forces and a handful of the strange ninja.

Ino looked up at Choji. "Where the hell is Karin anyway?"

Choji shrugged. "Probably being useless, hiding in a tree and concealing her chakra—"

"Oi! Tubby! Are you calling me a coward?" Karin sneered as she jumped down from said tree.

Choji just shook his head and whispered, "Told you so."

Aya looked at the remaining Konoha nin quizzically before she began barking orders to her own troops; finally, she regarded their group. "Listen," Aya murmured, "we can't have you interfering during the ceremony."

"Ceremony?" Karin screeched. "You make it sound more like a religious holiday than a war."**  
><strong>"Karin!" Ino barked as she jabbed her companion in the side, "Have some respect! These nin just saved our hides!"

"Oi! Bitch! That hurt!" Karin complained, massaging her side.

Choji placed himself in between the two woman and answered Aya placidly, "Right. Ceremony. What do you want us to do?"

Aya grinned and put a hand on the large man's arm. "Right. Here's the plan..."

A few moments later, Aya's team took out the zombie barrier and replaced it with one of their own, while Choji, Ino and Karin all agreed that they would wait until the "ceremony"—or whatever—was complete before entering the circle.

"Don't you think we should have insisted on entering the barrier?" Karin muttered to Ino.

Ino snorted. "Just _trust_ me on this one. Yuki trusts Aya with her life, and I trust her too. I saw..." Ino closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before continuing, "I saw what happened _that_ day through Yuki's eyes. Aya saved Yuki...and she tried to save Ryuu, too." Her voice broke a bit when she said Ryuu's name, but steeling herself to be strong, she steadied her voice and look straight into Karin's crimson eyes. "It's going to be fine. _Trust_ me."

Karin shrugged. "I wouldn't have jumped down from my tree if I had sensed any evil intent from Aya and her forces." The red-head pushed her glasses further up on the bridge of her nose and sighed. "It's just that I'm sensing some _serious_ chakra inside the barrier…something _wild _is happening in there." Her red eyes reflected the light of the full, crimson moon, and Ino shivered.

Suddenly, a noise coming from the direction of the barrier made them start. Ino hissed to her compatriots, "Watch out! It might be more of those zombie freaks!"

Karin paled and considered hoping back up into her tree before she realized just who was coming their way.

#

_Great, _Yuki thought caustically from inside her body, which was now controlled by Itachi. _The psycho has at least ten sharingan implanted in his arms, two of which have the mangekyo. Could this guy _get _any more over-powered?_

_Yuki-chan,_ Itachi's voice thought back at her, _trying to concentrate here. Keep it down._

Yuki gave the mental equivalent of an _"eeep"_ and struggled to still her thoughts. It was difficult though, because across from her, her father's body was practically foaming at the mouth, his expression foreign and unsettling while the susanoo formed itself around his body.

Her acquaintance with her long-dead uncle had been brief, and she was not fully certain of his abilities: would Itachi really be able to defeat an improbable, mentally unstable Madara? Because the fierce chakra of his susanoo was absolutely frightening: she had never seen so much malicious power gathered at once.

_Watch and learn, little niece, _Itachi thought at her as he forced her eyes to switch to the mangekyo. If Yuki had had control of her body, she would have been coloring at being called "little"; instead, she braced herself for whatever what inconceivable thing was going to happen next.

A fire bloomed behind her eyes, and for a moment, and all she could see was red. When her vision cleared, she saw that she was suspended inside a body of fire, glowing crimson and copper and crowned with a grinning skull.

_This must be Itachi's susanoo, _she thought grimly, noting the burning sensation running over her skin as the chakra roaring in her ears. The strangeness of the situation washed over her then, the almost incestuous fight that was about to begin: father verses daughter, uncle verses uncle, the four of them tangled up in each other's eyes and bodies and bloodlines. Was this the fate of the Uchiha? To wrestle for dominance within the clan even after death—an eternal battle of their genetics and jutsu?

What in Kami's name was the _point _of it all?

_Hush now, child,_ Itachi's mind whispered to her, and then there was no more room for thought: the world became a whirl of dark fire, an exchange of electrified blows, and the howling from skeletal lips.

#

Sakura looked towards the clearing in horror: in the middle of the field rose two giant susanoo's, and, levitating in the center of each glowing demon was Sasuke on one side, and what looked like _Itachi_ on the other. The genin clustered behind her, each with a silent, brave face which tried to hide a quaking heart. None of the children spoke as they regarded the susanoo's with terror.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried, "We have to get the children out of here! Those two are about to decimate the whole clearing!" She helped Naruto up, propping him with her shoulder. In truth, Naruto wasn't in any condition to move, but if they didn't, they were going to be crushed by the supernatural battle.

With Sakura supporting most of his weight, they hobbled their way to the barrier, the children clustered around them. Normally, the ideal person to break through a jutsu like this would have been Naruto, but there was no way that could happen right now. Sakura knew that it was up to her. Placing the groaning Hokage on the ground, she gathered chakra into her arms and hit the glinting barrier with all her might—

And recoiled in pain, her fist bloodied and aching. "Damn it!" Sakura ground out between clenched teeth.

"Okaasan!" Saki was at her side at once, funneling healing energy into her mother's fist. "Are you okay?"

Sakura bit off a curse and looked at the center of the field: huge explosions were rocking the earth, bursts of light that were so bright, they blotted out the light of the moon and stars. Even from this distance, Sakura could feel the tremors in the earth vibrating her whole body. Ignoring her daughter, Sakura barked, "Naruto! Is that _really_ Itachi out there?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not sure. It _looks _ like him—and the chakra is similar to his—but it's also different. But familiar. I can't tell—"

At that moment, the shimmering barrier with the strength of steel flickered and disappeared; Sakura simply gaped at its absence while Saki pulled on her sleeve. "Come on!" her daughter insisted.

There was no time to lose. Sakura gathered up Naruto as gently as she could, and they _ran_ with all their might away from the battle while the earth trembled and shook under their hurried footfalls.

"Naruto-kun, how are you doing?" Sakura asked once they were a safe distance away, breathless from their flight.

He grunted. "Sakura," he mumbled, "I think we're being followed."

The worst possible scenario ran through her head: they were being surrounded by zombies, and Sakura, with a handful of genin, were going to have to save the Hokage from being eaten by reanimated corpses. Her heart stopped beating. Then familiar faces swam into view, and Sakura remembered to breathe.

"Ino...Ino-pig?" Sakura asked in a quavering voice, sagging with relief.

"Oh my gods! Hokage-sama!" Ino shouted.

Naruto managed a pained wave. "The barrier is up again," he noted blandly.

Ino nodded animatedly. "Yeah, Aya and her friends just put it up." When she noted her friends' looks of incredulity, she duly noted, "For the ceremony."

"Ino? Who the _hell_ is Aya?" Sakura cried. "And what ceremony are you talking about? In case you haven't noticed, we're in the middle of a _war_ here—"

But Ino was completely ignoring her. "Cho? _Cho?_ What the hell are you doing here?! Saki! Hoshiko! Hayato! What the—"

Naruto groaned, and Sakura quickly took charge of the situation. "Ino, never mind that for now! Help me with Naruto. He's been stabbed by Madara."

"Wait—Madara?" Ino's eyes were as wide as the full moon overhead, disbelief parting her mouth in an 'o' of surprise.

Sakura closed her eyes. How was she supposed to explain that Madara now controlled her husband's body and was currently battling the long-dead Uchiha Itachi in an epic susanoo contest? "Just forget it, Ino. It's under control. Sort of. Just—help me with Naruto! You too, Karin!"

Karin squeaked and kneeled down next to the Hokage. "Me? I'm not a medical ninja. What do you want me to do?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You're a genius. Help us figure something out." Karin blushed at the praise while Sakura barked, "Kids! You stand guard!"

The genin arranged themselves in a circle around the adults with Choji taking charge of defense; Sakura felt a pang as she gazed at their young faces twisted in weariness and fear. _Poor things, _Sakura mused silently. But there was no time to waste: Naruto's condition had worsened with movement, and the three kunoichi commenced to heal him.

As she worked, Sakura resisted the temptation to look over her shoulder to see what was going on; instead, she called over her shoulder, "Hoshiko! Status report!"

"It looks like two giant glowing monsters are trying to kill each other!" she whispered fearfully. Then Hoshiko inhaled sharply. "Otousan? Where is Yuki?"

Naruto balled his hands into fists and whispered, "I don't know, Hoshiko-chan. I don't know."

Ino's head shot up. "_Yuki's _here too?! What the hell!"

Sakura sighed wearily. "Ino? Just...concentrate on Hokage-sama. Please?" Sakura pushed down her anxiety, pushed away the horrible thought that she might never see her husband or eldest daughter again, and tried to control her chakra.

Sakura bowed her head, Naruto's words echoing in her head:

_I don't know..._

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><p><em>Thanks for reading, and please, review!<br>_


	45. Chapter 45: The Song of Aether

Whoo boy, getting down to the very final chapters here. Thanks so all my wonderful readers out there. I hope you enjoy the next installment!

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><p>Chapter 45: <em>The Song of Aether<em>

"Tsunade-sama?" Shikamaru groaned from his pallet on the floor. His eyes opened a tiny crack, and he scanned the medical tent as well as he could with blurry vision. "Is that you?"

Tsunade unceremoniously dumped herself on a mat next to his. "Yo."

"You didn't get hit by one of those zombies, did you?" he asked, panic rising in his voice.

Tsunade grunted. "No. Just chakra exhaustion. I'm too old for this crap," she muttered in disgust. "I left the Kazekage in charge."**  
><strong>Shikamaru blinked, and he pulled himself up on one elbow, though it cost him some effort. "Is that really...okay?"

"It's _fine," _Tsunade snapped, laying down on the pallet and draping an arm over her eyes. "It's not like I had much of a choice. Anyway, now we can bitch and moan for status reports _together_." She snorted at her own ill-humor. "We're holding our ground, for now at least. I intend to rest before I go back to kicking some more zombie ass_._"

Shikamaru dipped a cloth in a lukewarm bowl of water next to him and put it on his forehead. "I feel like ass," he said, making a sour face.

"You look like it, too."

"Thanks." _Old hag, _Shikamaru thought bitterly, but then smiled despite himself. They were holding ground; things were going to be okay. They had to be. Shikamaru held onto his rekindled hope and closed his eyes, settling down on his mat once more, trying to relax.

They lay like that in silence for a while, the red moon beating down on them, crimson light leaking into the tent through the cracks in the canvass walls and through the small triangular windows. A walkie talkie cracked to life, breaking the unsettling silence.

"Kchhhh. Tsunade-sama! ANBU backup has returned from Akash! I repeat, ANBU back up has returned—"

"Temari! Where the hell is Naruto? Temari!" Tsunade demanded in rapid succession, her fingers white around the communication device.

"Kchhh. Calm down," Temari barked, weariness evident in her voice. "Naruto and Sakura weren't located at the time when the ANBU left Akash."

"What the…? How the hell did the ANBU return without Naruto?!"

There was a long pause before Temari spoke again. "Um... You remember those ninja from Akash that tried to abduct Uchiha Yuki and who had their summons fight Naruto and Sasuke?" she answered, all in a rush.

Tsunade stared in disbelief at the walkie talkie in her hand. "Yes…?"

"Kchhh. So...they used this portal jutsu thing to bring them back—" Temari broke off abruptly as a _swooshing_ noise crackled over the communication device. "Gah," Temari muttered when the noise cleared. "Hold on." Temari neglected to turn off her walkie talkie, and so Tsunade and Shikamaru were able to hear the undignified sound of a zombie (re)dying, his hideous death gurgle resounding over the intercom. Then Temari continued, as if nothing dire had just happened. "So yeah, the Akash nin brought the ANBU back along with some reinforcements. Man, those Akash nin rule. They're really kicking the crap out of these zombies."

"You. Let. Unidentified. Potentially hazardous. Ninja. Into our village. In the middle of a war?" Shikamaru ground out, his face pressed so close to the walkie talkie that he could feel the hot plastic against his cheek. He just couldn't _believe_ this.

"Kchh. They're killing zombies. That's all I care about. Okay, got to run. Places to go, zombies to blow up. Later."

The line went dead. Shikamaru looked at the Hokage. The Hokage stared up at the tent ceiling as if she could bore a hole through the canvass with her glowering eyes.

"I'm definitely too old for this shit," she growled. And with that, she rolled over and went to sleep. The faint sounds of her snores reached Shikamaru's ears a moment later.

Shikamaru just stared at the former Hokage's back, thinking that he was probably just dreaming. He was sure that when he woke up, he wouldn't be caught in a post-apocalyptic horror movie any longer.

#

"Damn it, we're not getting _anywhere_ with this!" Sakura hissed over Naruto's prone form, the latter having passed out moments ago. "What the hell are we going to do?"

Ino sighed. "Karin, maybe you'd be kind enough to use _that_ jutsu?"

Karin snorted. "It's not a lack of chakra that's the problem, it's the organs that we can't get to heal. And I'm _not_ letting anyone bite me _ever_ again." Sakura bit her lip at the mention of Karin's former sadomasochistic relationship with her husband. She colored slightly, but said nothing. Now was not the time.

Saki glanced over her shoulder from her defensive position on the periphery, looking at Sakura quizzically. "Mom? Why don't you guys take a break. We'll hold down the fort."

Sakura wiped her brow and contemplated the request. After all, Naruto was in somewhat stable condition—or he was as stable as they were going to get him out on the field. There was not much more they could do here, and Sakura could feel herself sagging with weariness. "Fine," she answered tensely. "We'll stand guard."

"You sure that's wise, Sakura?" Ino asked.

Sakura shrugged. "We'll be standing _right here_ if anything happens. The kids already saved Naruto's life once today, and I'm not afraid to let them watch over him while we take a much needed break. It's not like we're accomplishing anything, anyway," she concluded bitterly.

"Point taken," Ino replied as she rose on shaking limbs and brushed herself off.

Soon, Saki and Hoshiko arranged themselves on either side of Naruto's head while Cho positioned herself by his torso. "Cho," Saki commanded, "plug us in. Hoshiko, let's activate our doujutsu."

"Okay."

Ino looked at Sakura and whispered, "What does she mean, 'plug in?'"

Hatayo, who stood at Ino's side, whispered back at her, "Cho is using her mind-jutsu connection so that all three of them can 'see' through the byakugan and sharingan."

Ino blinked in rapid succession for a moment before she understood what Hayato had just said. "Whoah," Ino murmured, her mouth parting in surprise. "When did our kids get to be so amazing?" Ino turned to Sakura with a lopsided grin.

Sakura smirked, then shook her head. The kids really were amazing, she thought bemusedly, but she couldn't dwell on that now. She had to stay alert. Keep everyone alive. Her eyes burned with exhaustion, and the hand clutching her kunai was slick with sweat, but she dared not relax, not even for a moment.

Just as Sakura began scanning the battlefield, Karin shouted, "Shit! It's coming! _It's coming!"_

"What's coming?" Sakura asked, trying not to let panic seep into her voice. She did not see or sense a thing.

"Quick!" Karin cried, ignoring Sakura, "We need to make a wall between us and the barrier! _Now!"_

Not really knowing what else to do, Sakura punched the ground and used the displaced earth as a shield. Choji stood next to her and braced his weight against the earth as well. In a moment, they were glad of the protection: without warning the earth roiled under their feet, and the dust from an explosion washed over them.

"The barrier's down!" Karin screamed.

Sakura gasped as the earth she had been holding in her hands all but disintegrated. She let the last pieces fall back to the ground and took in the scene before her, the land billowing with black, acrid smoke.

There was no sign of Yuki or Sasuke in the blackened landscape. Her heart leapt into her mouth. Where the _hell_ were they?

#

Every time she and Itachi scored a hit on Madara, the susano sword Yuki held in her hands exploded with fireworks of multicolored light. Madara was having a hard time avoiding her supernatural sword, and to prove it a few of the eyes studding his arm had closed from using Izanagi to dodge. But Yuki was far from feeling confident: Yuki's joint susano with Itachi had already sustained some damage, and she wasn't sure how long they could maintain their attack before their own susano disintegrated from Madara's intense parries.

_Yuki, _Itachi thought at her, _take the reins for a while._

_What? Where the hell are _you_ going? _she thought back at him furiously, panic clouding her mind-voice.

Just then, Madara came in for a blow and Itachi raised the sword to guard: bright sparks flew from the impact, lurid magenta and dazzlingly bright green, before suddenly, Yuki's arms were in her control again and Itachi _gone_.

_Itachi? ITACHI!_

It was no use. There was no was going to have to man the susano by herself until her spirit guide came the hell back. _God damn it! I've never driven one of these things before!_

Thankfully, Madara's movements seemed to have slowed too. Perhaps he had sustained more damage than she had thought. Gritting her teeth, Yuki took the opportunity to swing her sword back for an attack. In the place where she raised her sword up into the starred heavens, an eternity seemed to hover under her blade. There was a breathless, gut-wrenching pause. Then, with all the strength she could muster, she gave an inchoate scream and swung the sword down over the head of her enemy.

#

"Oniisan?" Sasuke whispered, his voice hoarse and barely audible, even to his own ears. Somehow, some way, he was in his own body again. He blinked, slowly, and realized that he was in the familiar grassy clearing from his dreams: the place without sun or moon or stars, but lit with eerie, bright light all the same. Was this real? Was he really here, or was he still a cobweb hanging in the corner of Madara's mind? He stared back at his older brother, a thousand questions running through his head, unable to voice any of them.

"Foolish otouto," Itachi replied, a sad smile on his face, "we're merely inside of your mind."

Inside of his mind? How bizarre. Sasuke was inside of Madara's mind, inside of Sasuke's body; and now Sasuke was having a (probably hallucinated) conversation with his long-dead ani inside of _his_ mind. Sasuke supposed, if he tried to think about it too much, it would only hurt his (non-existent) mind.

Sasuke shook his head. Now was not the time for existential blathering. "Oniisan," he rasped at last, "please kill me already. I want to join you and mother and father. I want to stop making mistakes, to stop hurting everyone…" He trailed off, disconcerted by his brother's soft, sad smile. His own words sounded foolish to him, and he felt like he was nothing more than a whining child.

"Foolish outouto, don't you remember anything of what I told you? You're not supposed to let me _kill_ you. You're supposed to fight Madara when you see me. Don't you remember?"

At the sound of Itachi's soft voice gently chiding him, Sasuke felt his throat constrict. "Onnisan," he whispered, his voice gruff with unshed tears, "I don't know how—"

"Tch," Itachi countered, taking a step closer and flicking his younger brother on his forehead—a simple, familiar gesture. "If you want to stop hurting the ones you care about, take responsibility for yourself. Push Madara out of your body so we can _end_ this." His voice was hard, but not unkind.

Sasuke blinked, startled. He looked up into Itachi's eyes, dark like two deep wells, and in those waters, Sasuke saw and understood what Itachi had been trying to tell him all along. It was as clear as if Itachi was speaking directly into his mind:

_Live, so that I may die and rest in peace. Live, so that I can watch over you in serenity, so that I can be proud of my little brother. Because I love you. Because I was wrong. Let's make this right together, finally, here, please. Don't give up. Please. I love you. _

"Okay," Sasuke breathed, tears stinging his eyes. "I'm ready."

"Good." Itachi nodded, a hint of a smile curving his lips. "Here we go then."

The dream faded just as quickly as it had come. Reality came rushing back all at once, and Sasuke found himself imprisoned within his own body once more. But this time, there was fire in his veins and blood running through his heart. He could feel it, could feel his own power coursing through him. With stern determination and a burning fire in his spirit, he pushed with all of his might against the Madara's control.

#

Yuki swung down at Madara with the susano's immense sword, but as she did so, she felt Itachi rush back into her body all at once. He did not take full control of her body again. No, instead it was as if they were two dancing partners moving as one, their movements liquid and lethal.

And below them, it seemed as though Madara had stopped struggling.

"Now, Sasuke! NOW!" she shouted with Itachi's voice, although what Itachi wanted Sasuke to do was a mystery to her. She was just holding onto the sword for dear life, hoping that Itachi knew what the hell he was doing.

The sword arced through the air in a stream of hellish fire, just as a blinding green light exploded from Sasuke's torso. Yuki gasped in surprise as _something_ moved out of his body, just before the brilliant sword made contact with a shrill _ring_—

After that, it was all green fireworks and billowing smoke. Yuki couldn't see what was happening, but she felt Itachi's spirit as he left her body once more. She was alone again. The world lurched under her dizzyingly, and despite her efforts, her susano faded. No longer buoyed by the jutsu, she began falling, falling through the vast space. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She was sure she would continue hurtling towards the ground, like a comet zooming towards the earth, when someone caught her smoothly and slowly put her down on the solid earth.

She struggled for breath, then spun around to face whomever it was who had caught her. "Itachi," she breathed, "you could give a girl some warning." She glared at him.

All at once, light, airy laughter rang out. Startled, Yuki looked around her: she was in a light-filled clearing. All around the edges of the light, black smoke roiled and billowed, but where the light began, all was still. She blinked, and realized that the light emanated from hundreds of spirits, their forms translucent and flickering like candlelight in the wind, barely discernible but present all the same. _The ancestors,_ Yuki thought, a chill running up and down her spine. _They've been here, watching and waiting, the whole time. _She felt a pang at that; soon, she would have to end the jutsu and return them to their own world.

Her eyes flickered back to Itachi, and she forced herself to glare at him again, though it lacked any real ire. Itachi simply grinned at her, and Yuki thought the expression strange on his normally impassive face. "We've sealed Madara away with Totsuka_,_" he replied. "Now there's only one thing left to do."

Yuki nodded. That had been the plan from the beginning, to seal away Madara's soul with Totsuka, the liquid sword of fire that condemned the soul it touched to an eternity of genjutsu. She breathed a sigh of relief. It was finally over. But then, her shoulders tightened and her breath caught in her throat.

"Itachi-san," Yuki began, slowly, guiltily, "I didn't have a chance to tell you before…but Lady Death modified my mangekyo sharingan. The sword sealed Madara's soul directly to Lady Death, instead of the gourd." She looked back up at him, nervous to hear his response.

Itachi's smile faded. "That's...problematic. I was going to remove my mangekyo from your nerves and instead leave you with your own mangekyo, the one you earned through your journeys in the aether. However…" Itachi paused, lost in thought.

Yuki gulped. "Is what I did…really bad?"

Itachi shook his head. "The Lady works in mysterious ways. Keep my jutsu for now, niece. But take care not to use it until _he_ comes again; and that time, when you use it, it will seal him properly in Totsuka's gourd."

"You mean—I'll meet him again?" Yuki asked in horror, covering her mouth with a shaking hand.

Itachi placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. "I don't know," he said evasively, and Yuki had the distinct impression that he was holding something back from her. "But for today, our work is done. You must restore the world to the way it was."

Yuki nodded, forcing herself to overcome her shock. "Of course." She knew what she had to do, and she was not afraid to do it. She took a deep breath, and began to weave the hand-signs, when she felt a light touch on her shoulder.

"Wait."

Yuki looked up and met Ryuu's smiling gaze. "Hey," he said, his blue eyes sparkling.

"Hey, Ryuu?" Yuki echoed dumbly, wondering why the spirit had returned.

"Itachi-san," Ryuu began, "take your mangekyo back. Let me give Yuki the rinnegan."

"What!" she cried, taking a step back. "I don't want the rinnegan! I didn't even want Itachi's mangekyo in the first place!" she protested.

But Itachi ignored her and inclined his head to Ryuu. "Yes. This is better. The light of the mangekyo fades, but the light of the rinnegan never lessens." Without warning, Itachi passed his hand over her forehead. All the sudden, she felt a light, floating sensation, as if a heavy darkness had just been lifted. She knew without having to look in a mirror that Itachi's ocular powers had been removed from her optical nerves.

When Ryuu took a step closer to her, she shook her head. "Listen," she began, facing Itachi "I'm grateful to have had the chance to use your mangekyo, as well as for the chance to return it. But I don't want any more power. I'm happy with the doujutsu I earned with my own two hands...er…or I guess, my own two eyeballs." She took a deep breath and exhaled hotly. "I just want to be _normal."_ She peered at Ryuu and begged him with her gaze to _understand._

Ryuu nodded. "I'll hold it for you then," he said, smiling widely, as if her words had made him happy. "And if you ever need it, I'll come to you."

Yuki bit her lip before nodding her agreement. "If Madara ever returns...then I will call on you."

Ryuu grinned toothily. "You can always visit me you know, now that you're an official spirit walker and all."

"Ryuu," Itachi said in a warning tone, "it's time."

Ryuu sighed. "I know. I just…" Quickly, he stepped forward to kiss Yuki on the mouth. She kissed him back, surprised at the tears welling up in her eyes. The light in the clearing around her began to pulse with gold and silver, and all the souls who had stood around her began to hum as they turned into amorphous spheres of light.

"Let the jutsu go," Ryuu whispered, his form slowly fading into golden light. "We'll be watching over you."

She closed her eyes. She had to, or she would't be able to say goodbye to Ryuu. Forcing herself to make the series of hand-signs, she released the jutsu that had called the ancestors back to earth. There was a loud sighing sound, as if the wind were breathing, or grieving. The golden spirits of her ancestors danced around her head like a crown of stars before they spiraled upwards. To her ears, the wind sounded like a song, a high pitched sound like a flute, accompanied by sound of rustling leaves. She opened her eyes and saw the movement of clouds against the stars. The wind sounded like the soft whisper of a guitar. Then the world around her swirled, and she was lost in a whirl of color and sound that vibrated all around her.

She had never known such joy, such perfect bliss, as she did in that moment. She felt as though her body might break, as if the vibration of the wind's song was too much for her mortal body to bear.

_This must be the song of aether Aya told me about, _Yuki thought dazedly as she was lost in the movement of the wind. _The sigh of the air when things are put back as they were and nature is at peace again._

And as suddenly as the lilting, lyrical wind had begun, it ended. Yuki came to herself once more. Her feet were on the ground. Her body was in ordinary reality. All around her, the battle field was shrouded in black smoke, and before her, her father lay on the ground, unconscious, a smile on his ashen face.

Biting back a cry, Yuki threw herself on the ground and activated her sharingan once more.

"Otousan!" She funneled healing chakra into him, but he didn't have any outward signs of injury. She inspected him with her doujutsu, but there was no dark light hovering over him, no chakra virus gnawing at his soul.

"Itachi," Sasuke mumbled, still lost in a haze of semi-consciousness, "Itachi, everything is fine now. I did it, Itachi. Itachi?"

Yuki let out a low whistle between her two front teeth: _Thank Kami._ The battle was over. In that moment, all of Yuki's emotions caught up with her— the fear and the sorrow and the brokenness, the beauty of the song of aether and the brief moment of absolute joy she had felt in its presence. She bent over her father and wept, the tears spilling onto her father's face.

"You should heal your hands, Yuki-chan," a cool voice murmured behind her. "You've already lost a lot of blood."

"Aya-sensei?" Yuki cried with a start, looking up at her sensei through her tears. Then Yuki looked down at her hands, and realized with shock that the cuts on her hands were still open and bleeding profusely. She swallowed back her tears and forced chakra into her hands. The cuts make sizzling noises as they sealed, stanching the flow of blood. Ignoring her weariness, she stood up to meet her teacher and stumbled, her wooziness catching up to her at last.

"Eat this," Aya said as she caught the younger girl before she fell, "it will help to restore your blood levels."

Yuki chewed the bitter pills without complaint before kneeling back down by her father. "Is he...?" Her voice trembled.

Aya shook her head. "He's fine, but he'll need a few weeks to recover. Poor man has been possessed by a ghost..."

At that, Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and Yuki flew back to his side. "Otousan!"

Sasuke coughed heavily for a moment, blood flecking his mouth. Yuki bit her lip in concern as he spoke. "Yuki-chan?" he called, in a voice that was little more than a low rasp, "Is that really you?"

"Of course it is," Yuki replied in a whisper, fresh tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Of course it is," Sasuke echoed, a weak smile playing on this pale lips. "I would know your chakra anywhere, no?" He tried to smile more widely, but he was wracked again by a coughing fit. Blood trickled down the corner of his mouth.

"Shhhh," Yuki whispered, trying to keep the panic out of her tone, "just relax. We can all go home soon…"

"What about Sakura? Naruto? Are they alright?" he asked, trying to rise despite Yuki's restraining hand. "Your sister and her team—are they hurt?"

Yuki inhaled sharply. "They're fine, otousan. _Please, _don't—"

She cut off abruptly as she sensed others approaching. With a hiss of surprise and fear, she whipped her head up to see if it was a friend or foe who was coming their way.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading and please, review:)<em>


	46. Chapter 46: Allies

**Kishimoto is ending the Naruto Manga in 5 weeks, and you can expect me to do the same. My ongoing fics will be complete by Mid-November!**

Thanks for coming along on this crazy fanfiction ride. I couldn't have done it without you wonderful readers:)

* * *

><p>Chapter 46: Allies<p>

"Oi, they're over here!" Karin shouted. The billowing smoke made her cough, but she forced herself to take another deep breath to shout again. "I can sense them!"

Blindly, she groped her way through the blinding clouds of dust and black smoke, running as quickly as she could—then stopped dead in her tracks. "Oh. It's _you_," she grumbled as she came closer to Sasuke, not bothering to conceal her scorn at seeing him for the first time in ten years.

"Sasuke!" Came Sakura's frenzied call. She ran forward and flung herself down by Sasuke's side, crying hysterically.

"Sakura?" he managed in a weak voice. "Are you all right?"

"Sasuke," she cried, ignoring his question. "I'm so sorry!"

He blinked, his eyes not quite meeting her gaze. "What? _Why?_"

"I almost killed you! With the death seal! I—"

With all the strength he could muster, he raised his hand and put it over her mouth. "Enough_. You_ aren't the one that needs to apologize. I…I never wanted to hurt you— any of you." His voice cracked. "I'm sorry…"

Sakura buried her face in his chest and wept. Yuki, who was still sitting on Sasuke's other side, smiled bittersweetly.

Naruto and the rest of the Konoha nin emerged from the thick smoke. Saki rushed over to her father and knelt next to Yuki, staring down at her father in stunned silence. Naruto carefully lowered himself down from Choji's supporting shoulder. "Oi, teme, you almost got me that time."

"Naruto?" Sasuke breathed. "Thank Kami." He looked towards Naruto, but not quite at him.

Naruto gave a forced laugh and gently laid a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Your eyes have turned white, Sasuke." He waved a hand in front of Sasuke's face, but he did not flinch. "Can't you see?"

"Hn." Sasuke turned away, his expression stoney.

Yuki looked at her father and opened her mouth to question him, but just then, Aya's voice boomed in the clearing.

"Listen up, Konoha," Aya called, stepping forward from the concealing smoke. "This is all very touching, but while we're here dilly-dallying, your village is busy being over-run by zombies. Unfortunately, they're going to keep on attacking, even though Madara's out of the picture."

Naruto swore. "Shikamaru was right, after all. But I don't think I can Hiraishin myself, let alone anyone else in my condition—"

"That's why I'm here." She took another step forward, her hands planted on her hips. "I can transport you all to Konoha. But…" Aya paused dramatically and grinned. "I'll need you to sign this little piece of paper first." She shoved a scroll into Naruto's lap.

"What? What is this? Some kind of waver?" Naruto ventured.

"Hardly," she replied dryly. "Sign it with your blood and you agree that Konoha will protect the village hidden in the Aether, and furthermore, that none of the Konoha nin will ever come into our territory uninvited. As an extra bonus for agreeing to our very _generous_ terms, I'll even heal the rest of your wounds, Hokage." Aya finished with a little bow.

"Do it," Yuki said. "Please, Naruto-sama. In the past, Konoha tried exterminating members of the village."

"What? Why would they—"

"Because they were largely Uchihas escaping the Konoha-orchestrated Uchiha massacre," she interrupted impatiently. "Please hurry and sign, Hokage-sama. The village needs you."

Naruto's mouth parted in surprise, but Yuki was right, even if he didn't quite understand what she was talking about. In any event, Yuki had just saved them all from certain death, and she seemed to know these people and trust them. He would trust them too.

He bit his finger and scrawled his signature. "Well," he said, rolling up the scroll, "healing would be nice…?"

Aya nodded and squatted next to the Hokage. "Yuki, do you have any chakra left?"

"Yes," Yuki lied.

"What about you, Uchiha the younger? Yamanaka? Hyuga?" Aya asked of the three genin.

"Um, hello?" Saki grumbled. "Uchiha the younger?"

"I'm actually an Akamichi," Cho answered apologetically.

Hoshiko raised her hand. "Uzumaki," she offered with a blush.

Aya just smiled and gestured for them to all take their places around Naruto's body. Ino and Sakura shared a look; it seemed as though they were not invited. Sakura supposed that was all right though. She couldn't quite manage to stop crying, and she didn't want to leave Sasuke's side.

"You," Aya said, pointing to Cho, "use your mind jutsu again to 'plug everyone in,' as you so aptly put it. Everyone else, get your doujutsu ready."

Cho surreptitiously handed Saki and Hoshiko soldier pills. When her eyes met Yuki's gaze, she winked. "I knew you'd be all right, Yuki-chan."

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Seems like everyone is pretty comfortable called me Yuki-_chan,_ now that I'm back," she complained, though she was smiling.

Cho scoffed and then activated her jutsu. Everyone else followed suit. "Good," Aya called. "Now I want everyone to look through Yuki's eyes."

Yuki started at that. Why her eyes? Aya was clearly the senior member of their party. However, Yuki did not question her sensei's judgement. Instead, she concentrated chakra in her her tired eyes. Saki, who was sitting next to her, brushed Yuki's hand with her own and offered her one of Cho's soldier pills. Yuki gratefully ate it and soon, her vision cleared.

"Aya-sensei, it looks different from the original chakra virus..."

Aya nodded. "See if you four can figure it out without me."

Saki bit her lower lip. With her sharingan spinning, she muttered, "We've been looking at this all day. What could we possibly have missed?"

"Yuki," Aya ordered, "use your mangekyo."

Yuki bit the inside of her cheek. "I gave it back to Itachi," she replied quietly.

"No, the _other_ mangekyo."

"Right. That one." Yuki took a deep breath, then her eyes swirled with the intricate pattern of the mangekyo.

"Geez, you're such an over achiever Yuki. You had _two_ supped up mangekyo sharingan at once?" Saki breathed, incredulous.

Yuki ignored her and studied the body of the Hokage. "Oh." She blinked. "Everyone, look right here," she said, pointing to the dark spot in Naruto's system. It was so easy! The answer had been in front of them all along.

"Oh! Instead of Madara's chakra infecting the host's system, this virus infects the Kyuubi. I can see the darkness." Saki said.

"We just need to remove that black haze and then wake the Kyuubi," Yuki replied. "Everyone, follow my lead."

And soon eight hands were scattering the cloud of dark chakra that had bound the fox demon, and Naruto's chakra smoothed out once again. "Watch out," Yuki warned. "I'm going to release the fox from the genjutsu I placed him in. There might be an unstable chakra integration, and I want you all to steady it."

And with that, Yuki made the simple hand-sign for "kai," and the fox woke up with a hum. It wasn't a rough transition like Yuki feared; all those long years of Naruto being in harmony with the demon spirit had ensured that. Soon, the Kyuubi chakra was restored and began healing Naruto's organs. The four kunoichi each released their respective bloodline limits and fell back with weary grunts.

"All right! I'm good as new!" Naruto chimed as tried to get up—and stumbled to the ground again.

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered, "take it easy."

"Oi, teme, you're the one who put me in this sorry state!" Naruto whined.

Sasuke flinched at the remark, but he gave a forced smile. "I suppose I did."

The Konoha nin rose, Sakura and Yuki supporting Sasuke while Choji and Cho steadied the Hokage.

"Great," Aya proclaimed, grinning. "Looks like we're ready to open the portal."

But Karin held up her hand. "Wait." The red-strode over to Sasuke and glared at him.

"Just so you know, Sasuke-kuuuuun," she hissed, "You. Are. An. Idiot." And before anyone could move to stop her, she punched him in the stomach with a loud _thwack!_ There were indignant cries of protest, but Sasuke, wheezing, raised his hands to stall them.

"I guess I deserved that," Sasuke gasped. He sputtered, then took a shaky breath and held out his hand to Karin. "I'm sorry, Karin."

Karin _harumphed,_ crossed her arms over her chest, and shoved her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. "And fucking _thank_ me for saving the life of your son, you worthless slime."

"You—you what?"

"The chakra virus," Sakura murmured, "Takeo was infected and—"

"Hey, I did all the work!" Saki protested.

Sasuke smiled softly and ruffled Saki's pink hair, making her blush. "Thanks. Karin. Saki-chan. That's the reason I left the village. If I didn't, Madara said he was going to kill Takeo..."

Karin punched him in the arm, although this time, it lacked any real force. "Enough of that, idiot. Madara's dead. Save the sob story for your mission report."

Sasuke exhaled sharply and looked at Karin with his unfocused eyes. "Forgive me, Karin."

She huffed. "Fine." She crossed her arms again and turned away from him.

Sakura started to laugh then, a sound that rang like a bell and lifted the gloom from the battlefield. Her laughter was contagious, and soon they were all laughing. All, that is, except for one. Yuki was the only one who remained silent, staring at them quizzically. Saki muffled her giggles long enough to whisper in her sister's ear how Karin was some kind of ex-girlfriend to their father, and then her mouth twitched upwards in a grin as well.

Aya cleared her throat. "Okay then." She smiled her iconic grin once more. "Are you guys ready to kick some zombie butt?"

There was resounding _"Hells yes!"_ in response.

"Company one!" Aya shouted. "Accompany us to Konoha!"

From the middle of the air, a dozen shinobi materialized, each one of them with sharingan whirling and strange curvilinear weapons in their hands. The Konoha nin mostly had their mouths agape at the Akash ninja who had just appeared out of thin air, but Yuki and Sasuke remained expressionless.

A tearing sound resounded in the clearing as Aya opened the portal, its bright blue-white light illuminating the clouds of dust and smoke all around them. Then, they were all gone in the blink of an eye, the only thing left in their wake the roiling black smoke, like a cloud of acrid incense rising towards the starry sky.

#

The Konoha historians would later write that it had been Naruto who had Hirashined the various and sundry ninja onto the Konoha battlefield. In fact, there was no golden flash that accompanied the Hokage and his company, but instead a pale shriek of the wind, a rip in the fabric of the air, and a blinding blue light.

"What the hell is that?!" Temari shouted, her blonde hair matted down to her head with sweat as she blasted out the chest cavity of one of the undead.

Suddenly, incredulous voices rang out, louder than the sounds of battle: "Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!"

However, said Hokage-sama only smiled, gave a perfunctory wave, plopped himself down on the battlefield, and began meditating. Sakura shook her head. "Sure Naruto, I'll guard your back," she grumbled. "Thanks for asking. You just sit in the middle of the apocalypse and meditate, _no_ problem."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Pinkie, why don't you and the kids get inside the walls? You all have done enough. We'll," and here Ino gestured to herself and Choji, "watch Naruto's back."

Sakura didn't have the energy to protest. "Come on kids," she ordered, "inside the gates." Sakura put her arm around Sasuke and supported him.

"But mom—"

"Saki. Not now," Hoshiko whispered to her loud-mouth companion.

Ino rolled her eyes and restated, "You kids have done _enough._ More than enough. Now get inside the gates before you're grounded for the rest of your lives."

Yuki turned towards Aya. "Let me fight, sensei," she asked in an undertone.

Aya shook her head. "You are still depleted from the jutsu. Rest now; we'll take care of the this." She spared Yuki a smile and cracked her knuckles. "Don't worry. I'll find you before we leave."

Yuki, weary beyond words, merely nodded. Aya gave her a silent nod of understanding before she and her troops bounded away, becoming black blurs on the battlefield. Zombies dropped like fat flies wherever their shadows flitted. But instead of feeling joy at the war's imminent end, she felt something akin to lead settle in her stomach. "_Before we leave..."_ Yuki repeated under her breath. Aya was going to leave her here?

But there was no time to muse further, as Sakura, holding a hobbling Sasuke, led the children out of the battlefield and into the gates. As soon as they were in, they were all taken to the medical tent. The nurses poked and prodded Yuki (who was _fine,_ damn it!), while she took in the chaotic scene in the medical tent: the rest of team five were also being examined while Tsunade-sama and Shikamaru were interrogating Sakura. Sasuke hung limply on Sakura's arm, staring at nothing.

_Otousan is blind,_ Yuki mused with certainty. If it hadn't been the while ovals of his eyes, bleached of any purpled rings, it was the memory of Ryuu sucking his jutsu back through his (her?) palms that cinched it for her. Without a doubt, Sasuke was _blind._ Yuki felt guilt creep into her blood like a poison: she was the reason Sasuke's sight was gone, after her mother had spent so much time and effort replacing it.

As if in answer to her thoughts, Sasuke's head snapped up: his white eyes met her gaze and he smiled sadly. _Can he…?_ But just then the damned nurse tending her broke her line of sight, and insisted that Yuki lay down.

"You've lost enough blood to kill a horse," she huffed. Yuki thought was absurd, and told her so. What was wrong with Konoha nurses?

But finally, after much cajoling and a glare from her mother, Yuki did lay down. It was then that reality came crashing down on her: she was back in Konoha. She had aged five years in the space of five days. Madara was dead, and the Uchiha underground was teaming up with Konoha to kill zombies...

It was that last part that really caught her attention. She knew from her extended stay with the Hill People that they did not trust Konoha ninja, Yuki being a small exception. She also knew that while Aya had a disarming and almost silly outward demeanor, that inside, she was a shrewd leader.

Just what was Aya thinking?

#

Shikamaru finished smoking a cigarette, snuffed it out in the ash tray, and lit another one. "Oi, Shikamaru," Naruto whined from behind his desk, "no smoking in the office."

Shikamaru speared him with a glare then took one long, deliberate drag. "Naruto," he countered, smoke pouring from his mouth, "you didn't read this document before you signed it, did you." It was not a question.

Naruto's cheeks pinched. "Um... Well you see, Yuki told me it was okay, so—"

"Yuki," Shikamaru hissed. "Told you. That it was. Okay."

"Aw, come on Shikamaru," Naruto protested, "we were in a pinch, I had a leaky Kyuubi in my guy, Konoha was overrun with zombies—"

Tsunade, who had been silently gazing out of the wide windows of the Hokage tower, snorted derisively. "Shikamaru. It doesn't matter. He's already sighed it with his blood. There's no going back." Tsunade pursed her lips thoughtfully and then continued, "Well, you _could_ break the contract, but then apparently, Aya will reactivate your chakra virus, curse your bloodline, and wage war against Konoha."

Naruto shuddered. "No way. Akash ninja are like, totally scary. I'm not messing with them."

Shikamaru took another deep drag from his cigarette. "Then it can't be helped, _Hokage_-sama," he replied with more than a trace of annoyance when he uttered Naruto's title_._ "We'll have to agree to the terms of the contract."

"Oi, Shikamaru, you look like you just swallowed a turd. It's not that bad—"

"Let's see, idiot," Shikamaru spat he took the scroll and began to read. "Point one: no Konoha nin will ever step foot inside of Akash nin territory, on pain of death. However, Akash nin shall be able to visit Konoha with or without permission."

"Yeah, that's not the greatest for security," Naruto mumbled, "especially not with their instant transport jutsu thingy…yeah."

"Point two: Akash ninja shall have stationed within Konoha one ambassador at all times. This favor will not be returned."

Naruto waved defensively, "Oh, come on! Their ambassador—"

"Spy," Tsunade added blithely.

"Will be Uchiha Yuki. She's all right," Naruto continued, glaring at Tsunade. "So it's not that bad of a—"

"Point three: Konoha shall swear to protect the safety, anonymity, and territory of the Village Hidden in the Aether. Of course, there's no clause stating that _they'll_ come to _our_ aid," Shikamaru added causticly. "And finally, point four: all persons in the prison system who have finished divulging all information of importance are to be offered the option of asylum and rehabilitation in the Village Hidden in the Aether."

"I don't see why that's a problem Shikamaru. So they want to—"

Shikamaru banged his head against the wall and cursed. Since the head of the Intelligence Department was too distraught to reply, Tsunade did it for him. "Naruto. Giving over your prisoners of war—including dangerous rogue ninja—isn't the best tactic for village security."

"Especially if the Village Hidden in the Aether ever wanted to attack us!" Shikamaru shouted. "You've basically signed a contract making us the subservient vassals of a village hitherto unheard of! And you're handing them our prisoners on a silver platter! How do you know we can trust these people?"

Naruto rose from his seat and began to pace. After walking a few laps between his window and his desk, he slammed a hand into the wall, causing the plaster to crack. "It's the village's own damned fault for the Uchiha massacre," he seethed. "It's just Konoha's bad karma catching up with us." Naruto had already spoken with Aya that morning about the history of the Village Hidden in the Aether, and in fact, Aya was waiting for him in the other room. After he met with his advisors, they were to shake on the deal, and Aya was going to go through the prison and take whomever volunteered to start over in a new village.

Shikamaru stubbed out his cigarette and lit yet another. "This is political suicide," he grumbled sullenly from a thick cloud of smoke.

"We're doing what's right," Naruto shot back. "Besides, Aether came to our aid in this last war. If not for their contribution—"

"Interference," Shikamaru muttered.

"—Then we'd all be _dead,_ and Madara would still be going on a rampage from inside Sasuke's body." Naruto shook his head, forcing himself to smile. "I'm done debating with you. I'm meeting with Aya now and giving her a tour of the prison system." And with that, the optimistic Hokage was gone, closing the door behind him with a loud _thud_.

Shikamaru glared at Tsunade. "You didn't seem to argue against this agreement very much."

The former Hokage shrugged. "It's a bit harebrained, but I think Naruto's doing what he believes is right." Tsunade smiled, then continued in an undertone, "And I believe in Naruto."

"Tch." The genius exhaled a large plume of smoke, but despite himself, he smiled too, then stubbed out his final cigarette.

#

"So. You're leaving then," Yuki whispered, having finally been released from the medical tent by the overbearing nurses.

Aya nodded brightly. "Madara is gone, zombies are dead, Konoha is our ally. Looks like my work here is done!"

"Will you...visit?" Yuki asked hesitatingly.

Aya shook her head. "Not in the physical plane. But we'll continue your training in the dream world."

Yuki stared at her a moment. "You mean, while I'm sleeping?"

"Yep. So don't miss me too much. After all, you are our new ambassador to Konoha," she replied with a smile.

Yuki sighed heavily. "You mean spy."

Aya shrugged. "Anyway..."

"Take me with you!" Yuki blurted out.

"Sorry Yuki-chan. Our village is comprised solely of people who are against using violence, this latest zombie war being the only exception we've made since the village's inception. You know, since it would be really problematic if everyone in the world became a zombie and all." Aya tittered nervously at her own joke, then sighed. "Besides, you have your family to look after here."

Yuki looked up from the ground and into Aya's charcoal eyes. "Can't I ever come back?"

"When you've come to a crossroads in your life, when you are ready to give up your role as a ninja of a certain village, to relinquished your status as a killing tool in the hands of a Hokage... Then yes. But I think you have more to learn in this world before you join us again." Aya strode forward and crushed Yuki in a bear hug. "Be well, little sister." She stepped back, and Yuki was surprised to see that Aya's bottom lip was quivering. Before Yuki could cry out, there was a whirl of darkness, and Aya was gone. Her squad, who stood around her in a semi-circle, followed suit and disappeared in darkness as well. Yuki shivered, feeling suddenly abandoned.

"Yo, Yuki-chan!" Naruto called joyfully, stepping forward and clasping her on the shoulder. "We've got some things to discuss as per your role as Akash ambassador!"

"You mean spy, Hokage-sama," Yuki murmured as she walked back towards the village gates.

"Whatever." He rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about enrolling in the upcoming chunin exams." He shot her his brilliant smile. "After all. I think you're more than qualified."

* * *

><p><em>Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think!<br>_


	47. Chapter 47: Sing the Dead to Sleep

Welcome back! Just finished my midterms and somehow survived. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

* * *

><p>Chapter 47: <em>Sing the Dead to Sleep<em>

Yuki found herself with less than a month to train for the chunin exams. She was surprised that she wasn't being punished at all for her long absence from Konoha. She was still more surprised that she wouldn't be taking the exam with the rest of Team Five, even though they, too, were escaping a life-long grounding by enrolling in the chunin exams.

According to Naruto's recommendation, Yuki was going to be paired up with an older boy, the son of Kurenai and Asuma: Sarutobi Aiji. Meanwhile, Saki, Hoshiko, Cho and Hayato would be entering as a four man team. Yuki had also heard that Tadashi would be enrolling in the exams as well, and was pairing up with other boys from the Hyuga clan. She hoped she would not cross paths with him.

But as time wore on, Yuki found she had little appetite to train for the chunin exams. For one thing, her dream-space was taken up by training with Aya-sensei. When she woke from her lessons, she had no official sensei to train with for the upcoming exams, nor did she have the inclination to find one.

The situation didn't quite bother her, as she preferred going for walks in the forest and thinking, anyway. She had become quite uncomfortable in the village as of late: due to her long hair, more developed features, and overall older appearance, it seemed that many did not recognize her. When they did know who she was, they were extremely uncomfortable around her. She was different. Powerful. Worst of all, she was _other—_associated with members of a strange, potentially threatening village.

Naruto had wanted to publicly honor her for saving Konoha, but Yuki declined. After all, she hadn't done any of the real work. Ryuu and Itachi had finished off Madara, and Sasuke had delivered the final blow at the last minute. Saki and her team had valiantly snuck their way into Akash and saved the Hokage's life, their naive bravery more inspiring than anything she had done. She wasn't looking for a medal. She had just done what needed to be done. That was all.

Ever since she had returned to Konoha, it seemed like life had lost its luster. The grass seemed gray instead of green. The flowers, drying on their stalks in the autumnal cool, were like rust in her eyes. The sun was pale, and the moon was dark. The only time life seemed to be brilliant was in her dreams, when Aya would take her on journeys around the world and revealed to her the inner-workings of the universe.

And so, she spend much of her daily life alone, wondering aimlessly in the Konoha forest, wondering why the trees didn't speak to her, why the air didn't glimmer like it did in the other world. Even her movements felt heavy, as if her body was made of lead moving through thick, gelatinous air.

The full harvest moon waned and the next full moon came into the sky, as if the moon had grown pregnant with Yuki's musings. She knew she should start preparing for the chunin exams, but she couldn't quite shake her melancholy. Under the light of the moon, she wove her way out of the dark forest and walked home through the silver streets of Konoha when something finally pulled her out of her stupor. Without warning, she saw people hovering around the Uchiha district she had never seen before. Their faces were mournful, as pale and bright as the full moon. And their eyes—

When they turned their sorrowful faces to her, she saw that their eyes whirled with the Sharingan.

"Who are you?" Yuki asked, confused, but strangely not afraid.

But the people didn't answer. They just shimmered in the moonlight. And that's when Yuki realized that she was seeing the ghosts of dead shinobi—the ones that could not find rest in the next world.

That night, when she dreamed and Aya visited her, she saw those same Uchiha undead wandering aimlessly through the other world. "Aya-sensei," Yuki asked, "why am I seeing these people?"

"It is because they want you to sing them to sleep, Yuki-chan," Aya answered, her eyes trained on the wandering souls, her voice seeming to come from far away.

"But—how?" Yuki asked, her eyes wide. Aya just smiled a sad smile and opened her hand. The air shimmered, then Yuki's flute materialized in her palm.

Yuki woke up at midnight, moonlight streaming in through her window and brushing her face. She blinked, remembering the lesson from Aya. She gathered her things, then leapt out of her window, a dark shadow on the face of the night.

The streets were empty and glowing bone-white in the light of the sallow moon. It was silent. She could see no one. Then she activated her mangekyo sharingan, and she could clearly see the ghosts of the Uchiha swirling around her. Blood dripped down their ghostly forms and glimmered on the pavement, ethereal silver and red.

Yuki reached into her bag and withdrew her flute. She had not played it since Ryuu's funeral. _Maybe when I played for Ryuu…maybe I sung his soul to sleep,_ Yuki thought, feeling strangely happy. Now, she must play for the sake of the lost souls of the Uchiha, their spirits trapped in this world after the Uchiha massacre.

She lifted the cold metal to her lips and began to play, a cold, mournful tune. A song of the moon pulling at the waves of the sea. A song of salt and aether. A few of the ghosts stopped moving. They stared at her, listening to the music flow out of her flute.

When the song was done, a few of the forms smiled gracefully before soaring into the sky like birds, dancing with the stars and leaping over the full moon. However, many more remained. Yuki recalled Aya's words: it would take more than just one song to sing so many of the dead to sleep. After all, they had been wandering the earth for years now. It would take many night of her vigilance to soothe them into slumber. But she felt happy that she had sent at least a few to beyond the curtain of the sky, and those who remained seemed less sad.

"I promise I'll come back tomorrow," she whispered to the ghosts. They nodded their glowing heads and dissolved back into the night. She felt strangely peaceful, and, for the first time since returning home, she felt like she finally had a purpose. Turning around to leave, she bumped into the firm figure of a living person, and grunted in surprise.

"Yuki-chan—I _saw _them," came a startled whisper.

"What?" Yuki blinked, realizing that it was her father, and shook her head. "Otousan, you can't _see_ anything," she protested. "You're blind. What are you…?"

"I saw the spirit of Uchiha Tamiko, the girl who used to run the bakery when I was just a child. And Gouta, the old man who worked in the post office. Yuki, why I am seeing these people?" Sasuke asked, his voice cold and quiet.

Sasuke hadn't had an easy time reentering back into Konoha society, either. Many avoided him, probably because his body had recently housed the undying soul of a mass murderer. He had created chaos, a war replete with zombies. He had tried to kill his wife and children. He was an abomination.

At least, that's what Sasuke thought that others thought about him. Especially Sakura. She had been avoiding him again. Ever since he had come home from the hospital, Sakura had insisted that she should sleep on the couch to make sure he got his "rest." But Sasuke knew it was because he had tried to murder her, cold knife clenched in his cruel hand, his lips twisted and turned in a smirk not his own. He didn't blame her. After all, they had a long past, and had tried to kill each other multiple times before. He resolved to give Sakura some space, to let her deal with her own feelings. So he agreed. He slept alone while she slept on the couch. He needed his rest.

But Sasuke couldn't rest. Rather than be tortured by his never-ending thoughts, he had left the house that did not quite feel like home any more. He stalked the moon-drenched streets of Konoha, looking for solace in the familiar cobblestones and storefronts, drifting in and out of memories. Here was where the old Uchiha police station used to be, back in his childhood. Here was the ice cream shop where Itachi had insisted on buying him a treat, even though Sasuke insisted he didn't like sweets.

Sasuke couldn't see anything, of course. He had long since gone blind since the final battle between himself and Madara. But he used his sensory chakra to find his way, to trace over the familiar, bittersweet memories preserved in the shadows of the new Uchiha quarter.

As he walked, he sensed a large amount of chakra coming from his daughter, and he heard the sounds of mournful music floating on the air, notes chilling and lilting as only a flute can produce.

And then he _saw._

He saw the faces of people whom he had not seen since he was a little boy, faces whose twisting features relaxed with the sounds of the flute. He could see Yuki's face, her eyes closed and her fingers traveling up and down the cold metal body of the flute, shining like misty silver in the moonlight.

He stood, transfixed, while ghosts—the form of a child, her black hair done up in two pig tails, and her mother, a soft and sorrowful face—rose upwards towards the stars.

Then it was over. Before he could rouse himself to make a sound, she bumped into him, and he saw her eyes. Her mankegyo was different from the one he had worn in the past, the one he had given to her. The mangekyo in Yuki's eyes was a six pointed star, its points whirling on her irises like a pinwheel in the breeze.

When Yuki finally explained herself in awkward, halting voice, Sasuke's vision faded back into darkness, and he suddenly understood.

"You're singing the dead to sleep," he blurted out.

"How did you know?" Yuki asked, surprise evident in her tone.

"I just know," Sasuke answered, not sure how he knew, except that he did. The knowledge didn't frighten him. But it made his fingertips feel cold, as if his blood forgot how to circulate properly. "I...I could see them. Yuki, I could _see_ them..." he said, his voice trembling, not with fear but with something else entirely. It was as if the moonlight were a tangible thing that could wash his soul clean; as if the music was the voice of his soul.

#

On clear autumn nights when the waning moon glowed like burnished bones, Sasuke began helping Yuki to sing the dead to sleep. She would play the flute and he would play guitar. No one but the dead ever heard them. When the month was about up, and it was time for Yuki to take the chunin exams, there was not one ghost left wandering the streets or graveyards of Konoha.

The people in Konoha began to remark that there were more stars in the sky. The sky seemed somehow brighter, and there was soft music in their dreams, but they didn't know why, just that it was. Even the air around Konoha became lighter, crisper and cleaner. And finally, Yuki felt at peace with her return to Konoha.

Sasuke, too, felt like he had finally come home, that the stars were the eyes of the sky and that they were looking down on him without judgement. The night when the last ghosts whirled up into the sky like a shooting star in reverse, that's when Sasuke entered his house, picked Sakura up from the couch and held her in his arms. He traced a hand over her bulging belly and smiled.

When she opened her eyes, she flinched away from him, but he held her tightly in his arms. Itachi had forgiven him, hadn't he? Itachi had smiled and when Sasuke had pushed Madara out of his soul, when he had finally decided that his life was worth living. The darkness had left at last. Sasuke was _Sasuke_, himself and no one else. He could sing through the movement of his hands on the guitar, he could see beyond the film of his eyes. He was alive, and so was Sakura, and he loved her.

That was all that mattered.

"I love you, Sakura. Please. Please. Please," he repeated, not knowing how to ask, just repeating _please_ like it was a prayer.

"Sasuke. I can't. I... I almost killed you!" she moaned, trying to push him away. "How can you ever trust me again? It's not safe..."

But he ignored her, and kissed her neck, her mouth, her trembling chin; her tear-covered cheeks. "I almost killed you too," he whispered. "But I didn't…"

Sakura hid her face in her hands. "No! I almost _let_ you kill me. It's my fault, my fault," she managed through her tears, her voice shuddering.

"No. If anything, it's because of you that I was able to escape, that we were able to win. Sakura, please—Madara is gone." He continued to hold her firmly in his arm as she wept. At last, after the front of his shirt was throughly soaked with tears, and her ragged cries stilled to uneven breathing, he resumed kissing her. "I love you, Sakura."

"I love you too," she whispered, curling up against him, still crying. Slowly, he walked with her in his arms, up the stairs, into their room, and settled her into the bed. He continued to hold her until she silently drifted off to sleep. But Sasuke could not sleep: eyes closed, he saw stars dancing across the insides of his eyelids, across the wide expanse of inner sky.

#

Yuki had entered through the window to her bedroom, there to sleep and dream and train more with her sensei. But there, on the embroidered quilt over her bed, was her younger sister Saki, her eyes wide and glowing a phosphorescent green where they shone with moonlight.

"Yuki—train me. Please."

Yuki stared at her a moment, taken aback. They had been through too much together for her to refuse. And Yuki was _lonely,_ damn it. Even her old teammate, Cho, hadn't been by to see her. Though the Akamichi always had a kind hello to say to her in passing, Yuki could tell that she was keeping her distance. Aiji, her new partner, was tied up in Suna and would be returning with just a few days to spare before the chunin exams. So far, the only people she had had company with were her father, when he was out on his lonely walks at night, and with the ghosts of long dead Uchiha.

Most importantly, Yuki remembered the promise she had made to herself when she had first landed in Akash: she had vowed she would be a better older sister. And training is what older sisters did. Yuki stared at Saki some more, until Saki became uncomfortable with the scrutiny in her gaze.

"Well?" Saki demanded. "Will you train me or not?"

Yuki nodded and silently beckoned for Saki to follow her outside. The training grounds would be better, instead of inside the house where she could feel, rather than hear, her parents crying in the other room.

#

Saki and Yuki closed their eyes under a large oak tree, entering the other world to meet with Aya-sensei. Dead leaves fluttered down on the night breezes from time to time, rattling like dry bones. Tama, Yuki's cat summons, watched over them with lidded eyes. When dawn came, Saki yawned and stretched.

"Let's spar!" she ventured with sleepy enthusiasm.

Yuki grinned wryly and ruffled her sister's unruly hair, which had frizzed dramatically overnight. "After breakfast. But yes."

Yuki's bizarre, nocturnal schedule continued like this for many days: wandering the dark forest from dusk until midnight, then training Saki until dawn. Yuki mused that she probably needed more sleep than she was currently getting, but she found that she often rose refreshed after her work in the dream world with Saki. One night, Sasuke was worried about them and went into the forest to find them, but Tama shooed him away. "They're training," she said. "Leave them be."

A few days before the Chunin exams, Aiji finally arrived in the village. He had been training in Suna, and had been delayed on a mission until that point. He was sorely upset that he had missed the zombie invasion, but his sensei, Nara Shikamaru, snorted when the fifteen year old genin said as much. "Idiot," Shikamaru muttered, "you're better off having trained in Suna."

"Agreed," Naruto said, looking pale but healthy as he sorted papers on his desk.

Yuki couldn't stifle her derisive snort. She had been waiting in Naruto's office for hours for Aiji to show up, and now that he had arrived, it seemed like her future teammate was a naive child.

"Aiji," Shikamaru said with a weary sigh, "Uchiha Yuki is going to be paired up with you for the chunin exams. Since you two know advanced jutsu, and you're about the same age, the Hokage and I thought you two would make a good team."

Aiji scrunched up his face. "Isn't Yuki...ten?"

Yuki looked away from his annoyed glare and shrugged. She really didn't know too much about Sarutobi Aiji. She knew that he spend a lot of his time in Suna with Shikamaru, and had been taken as a pet prodigy by Gaara himself. Even when Aiji was in Konoha, he spent so much time training under Shikamaru and working on intelligence missions with the ANBU that he honestly hadn't spend much time with the younger generation.

Shikamaru's mouth twisted, and he tapped his chin as if he wasn't sure where to begin. "Technically, Yuki is ten, but for reasons I don't quite understand myself, she's basically aged by traveling through some kind of time space continuum." He shook his head. "In any event, you two are evenly matched."

Aiji raised an eyebrow. Evenly matched? True, he was a genin, but that was only because there weren't many other ninja his age with which to take the chunin exam. Though Yuki did come from an illustrious bloodline, he wasn't enjoying her stuck up attitude. Was it just him, or did this girl lack facial expressions?

Shikamaru motioned for the two genin to follow him out to the training grounds. Aiji and Yuki were silent the entire journey, glaring surreptitiously at each other. Measuring each other.

_I can take him,_ Yuki thought, unconcerned. Aiji had a slight build, and she doubted that he had any real combat experience, despite his age. She wondered if she should take the exam by herself and not bother with a partner at all…

"Alright," Shikamaru said with a wave, once they had reached an empty training ground. He found a spot to sit in the shade, leaned against a tree, and closed his eyes. "Spar."

At first, Aiji hit her with a genjutsu. _Child's play,_ Yuki thought, dispelling it easily. Without even activating her sharingan, Yuki cast her own genjutsu, something designed to paralyze the mind's thought processes, making the opponent's brain operate more like jello than anything. But much to her surprise, Aiji was able to break through.

Shikamaru cracked open one eye, yawned, and closed his eyes again. To any bystanders, Aiji and Yuki looked like they were having a prolonged staring contest. Genjutsu was deadly in the field but _dead_ boring to watch in training sessions. In a few moments, Shikamaru was lulled off to sleep.

When he finally woke, he rubbed his eyes and saw that both contestants were still standing in the field: Aiji was panting heavily from exertion, and even Uchiha Yuki was looking worn, beads of sweat trailing down her face.

"That's enough," Shikamaru droned. "Tomorrow we work on taijutsu. Dismissed."

"Tch. I could keep going," Yuki retorted, ignoring the fact that Aiji's dark eyes were quite beautifully illuminated by the setting sun, and his red cheeks made him look quite handsome. Not that she ever thought of these things...

"Ha," Aiji countered, trying to keep the breathlessness out of his voice. "I could keep going too."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "The chunin exam is only a few days away. Get some rest, and tomorrow, we'll work on your taijutsu and your _teamwork_."

"Yes sensei," Aiji replied in an undertone.

Yuki simply bowed and raced home. After all, she only had a short amount of time before she had to train Saki later that night.

#

All too soon, the day of the chunin exam came. Yuki wasn't quite sure if she was ready or not. It wasn't that she didn't think she wasn't advanced enough in jutsu—no, she was quite confident that she could win against everyone and anyone entering the exam. No, she was worried about her teamwork with Aiji.

Perhaps it was the fact that she admired his feral smile when they trained, the way he showed the whites of his teeth juxtaposed with his red lips. The way he would take off his shirt when they sparred, and Yuki could clearly see the rippling of his muscles when he lunged at her, the sweat glistening on his bare back.

These distractions had even made her, Uchiha Yuki, lose a sparing match or two, even while she was using her sharingan. She liked to think it was because she was evenly matched with her teammate, but she knew the real reason. _Damn these hormones,_ she would think to herself after a particularly excruciating defeat at Aiji's hands. She tried her best to be the cool, calm, collected kunoichi whose only thoughts revolved around how many ninja she could kill, but she only managed to succeed _most_ of the time. And for Uchiha Yuki, _most _of the time was not enough. She needed to be perfect.

But despite her desire for time to slow down, the day of the chunin exams had indeed arrived. That morning, Yuki got up before the dawn, tied her cumbersome breasts down with as many bindings as she could find, stuffed weaponry into every available pocket, and sauntered down the hallway, hoping that no one else would be awake.

She was wrong though. Saki was in the kitchen, practically pacing a rut in the tiled floor.

"Saki?" Yuki called her name as if it was a question.

"Hn." Saki paused mid pace and looked at her older sister with ire

"Saki, don't be nervous. You'll be _fine._"

"That's so easy for you to say! Miss-perfect-at-everything," Saki grumbled. "I've been training my butt off with Konohamaru-sensei and the gang, but I can't help but feel like it's not _enough_." Saki turned to face Yuki, her face scrunched up in despair.

"Saki. Enough. I trained you, I know you're good. Your taijutsu is decent, your genjutsu is almost as good as mine—"

"See!" Saki hissed between clenched teeth. "_Almost!_ Almost good enough is _not_ good enough, Yuki!" Saki continued to pace, her hands planted on her hips. "What if I have to fight you?" Saki wailed. "I'd be doomed, that's what!"

Yuki gently took her sister by the shoulders. "You won't have to fight me," she managed with a sad smile. "I'm on your side. I'll be looking out for you during this exam, Saki-chan. You're my _sister_."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Saki snapped waspishly. "If you're matched up against me in the exams, you'd better go all out!"

Yuki smiled her sad smile again, the smile that she never had before she left the village, but now that she was back, would not leave her. "Saki. Don't worry. You're going to be just fine." She patted the younger girl on the head before continuing, "How about a quick morning spar? It will help you relax before the big day."

"Fine," Saki snapped, slamming open the back door and stomping into the yard.

#

But all too soon, the spar was over, and Saki only felt like a small portion of her nervous energy was exhausted. They filed their way into the academy with their respective teams, Saki with Hoshiko, Cho, and Hayato, and Yuki with Aiji. The written exam was easy for the two Uchiha; after all, nothing makes cheating easier than a sharingan. In the end, both teams passed.

The second exam took place in the Forest of Death. Each team was given one token. They had to gather at least two more tokens from opposing teams before they could head to the tower. It seemed like an easy enough test, but it was far from being truly easy. Of course, Yuki and Aiji managed to con their second token off of a group of unsuspecting Mist nin. It was all too easy to put them under genjutsu, replace their token with a pine-cone, and then make them believe that said pine-cone was a token while they got away, completely unseen.

But just as Yuki and Aiji were about to head to the tower, Yuki felt the world lurch under her feet. The sun shimmered like a heat mirage, and all at once, Yuki could pinpoint every single ghost of every single genin who had died in the forest. Their ghosts called out to her, grieving, their faces contorted with sorrow.

"Damn," Yuki muttered under her breath. "And I was going to break Kazekage-sama's record."

"Yuki? Why did you stop? Did someone put _you_ under genjutsu?" her worried teammate asked.

Yuki tried explaining the ghost situation, but Aiji looked at her askance. "Ghosts? There's no such thing," he replied, worried about his teammate's sanity. "I simply don't believe in them."

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Believe. Ha. I don't _believe_ in ghosts, I _see_ them. Aiji, watch my back." Yuki took out her flute out of her pocket and began to play a dark melody before her teammate could protest.

She was surprised, though. She had never seen ghosts in the daytime before, only in the hours between twilight and dawn. But as she played her song, the answer came to her: the Forest of Death, so aptly named, was so full of tortured ghosts that it was practically overflowing with them. It was so obviously a haunted forest that she did not need the enhancement of darkness to see them.

No less than ten teams in the vicinity heard her plaintive music, but instead of trying to find the source of the sound, they all bounded away, repelled as if by a jutsu. Even the most war-hardened shinobi would have wept at those sounds, and these were only genin. As Yuki played, all activity in the forest stilled. It seemed like the sunlight became pale, and the air itself ceased breathing. And slowly, slowly, like a reverse whirlpool, the moans of the dead ground stilled, and white light spiraled up from every tree top. When the flute stopped its music stilled, no more spirits were left walking the forest. Yuki supposed that she had become skilled enough in the jutsu to do it quickly.

She turned to Aiji, but he had his back to her. He wiped his face with his sleeve, then gestured, silently, towards the looming tower just ahead.

Shikamaru was there to meet Yuki and Aiji when they entered the tower. To her chagrin, they were the fourth team to enter.

"Well," Shikamaru asked, "where are your tokens?"

Yuki opened her hands, and a myriad of object fell from them: scrolls, token, kunai with special inscriptions. Shikamaru looked over the various items in fascination. These were the different objects that teams had competed for over the last fifty years of chunin exams.

Yuki shrugged. "I suppose we did break one record then…"

"But it was much too troublesome," Aiji replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm just glad we finished the second part of the exam.

Yuki speared him with a glare, then turned away. Aiji really didn't understand _anything._

Still, Yuki could not relax. Though she had made it through, Team Five was still out there… Aiji retired to a waiting room in the inner tower, but Yuki stayed with Shikamaru. Watching. Waiting. When Saki and her team make it to the tower unscathed the next day, Yuki smiled, her first real smile in days. It seemed Saki had nothing to worry about after all. Not that she would ever admit to being worried, though…

On the third day, lots were picked for the upcoming rounds of fights, and Yuki's good mood withered:

The first match was destined to be Uchiha Yuki versus Hyuga Tadashi. If Yuki won that match—and obviously she would—then she would be slated to fight Uchiha Saki, if Saki won her own match.

"Don't forget," Saki hissed at her, "when we fight, go all out."

Yuki quickly looked away from her, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

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><p><em>Thanks for reading and please, review! ;)<em>


	48. Chapter 48: Uchiha Versus Uchiha

Hello all you lovely people! Did you read the manga this week? Best chapter all year, by far.

Enjoy the next chappy!

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><p>Chapter 48: <em>Uchiha Versus Uchiha<em>

They had one week to train before their matches and now, Yuki couldn't spar with Saki, since they were slated to fight each other in the second round. Yuki made sure Saki had lessons with her father, while she herself disappeared for the entire week. When asked, Sasuke murmured something about how Yuki needed to go into the Forest of Death to play flute music for the next week.

"What kind of training is that?" Aiji demanded of Sasuke. Sasuke merely shook his head and went back to instructing Saki.

The week wound to a close and soon, Konoha became the epicenter of the Five Shinobi nations. All kinds of strange characters and powerful lords came into the village, until the usual inhabitants were feeling extremely claustrophobic.

On the day of the chunin finals, Yuki was nowhere to be found. The stadium was packed full of people, and as Yuki and Tadashi's names were called, Tadashi's lips curled into a superior smile. Yuki wasn't going to show, and he was going to win by default.

Just as he was about to proclaim himself the winner, Yuki appeared in a dark swirl in the middle of the field. "Hope I'm not late," she muttered, looking a bit haggard. Tadashi shot her a glare while the referee called for the match to begin.

Tadashi came at her with everything he had, his gentle fist style as vicious as the snarl on his face. Yuki, her expression placid, didn't even bother dodging. Instead she dissolved, or truly, transported, her body where he hit her.

"Come at me, Uchiha Yuki!" he growled.

The crowd was going wild over Yuki's teleport jutsu, a jutsu not seen since Madara's appearance—and reappearance...and re-reapperance—in the world.

Yuki leapt back from Tadashi and tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Why do you want to win so badly, Tadashi-san?" she asked. There was no ire, no mocking behind her tone. She hadn't seen the boy in what felt like years, was genuinely curious. To her, the title of chunin meant little. She had only joined this contest at the behest of the Hokage. She knew that she was more powerful than most chunin and some jonin, even at her young age, yet the thought brought her little joy.

Tadashi paused, somewhat taken aback at her question. Panting, he replied, "If I defeat you, it will mean that _I'm_ the strongest ninja in the village. I will defeat you, Uchiha Yuki. I will!"

Yuki sighed. Why was Tadashi always be so overdramatic? She activated her sharingan, but it didn't take her doujutsu to see Tadashi hadn't changed at all since the time she had beat him at the training grounds.

At that moment, Yuki realized this was all there was to being a ninja: who was stronger than who, the unending test of wills. She felt like the earth under her had just shifted, and her head spun, though nothing outwardly had changed. All her life, she aspired to be strong, mostly to please her father, but also because she had thought she must. Now that she was one of the most formidable ninja in the village, she realized with a sinking feeling that it wasn't really what she wanted. She was lonely. Unfulfilled. She had become the subject of rumor, hatred, and the desire to kill.

To Tadashi, she had become a milestone, a hurdle—not a person.

"Tell me, Tadashi-san," Yuki asked slowly, the words seeming strange in her mouth, "why are you a ninja?"

"Because _Uchiha_," he spat, her surname sounding like a curse, "in this world, only the strong survive." He zoomed towards her again, his fists glowing with the power to stop a heart, sever limbs, break bones. This time, Yuki did not dematerialize her body, but matched him blow for blow.

The crowd went hysterical, many cheering for Yuki and just as many shouting for Tadashi. An idle part of Yuki's mind registered what the crowd was saying, how they were screaming for blood. She wondered how many had placed bets on this event.

It made her sick.

But what made her most nauseous of all was the sick glint in Tadashi's eyes. It was madness that she has seen in Madara's eyes, the glint of bloodlust, of wanting power above all else.

"Tadashi-san," she said, her voice soft and sad, "I am truly sorry what happened—our fight before I left the village. Please forgive me."

"Tch. Uchiha, I'll forgive you when I've decked you on the stadium floor."

Her skin crawled and in that moment, she loathed everything about the exam. With a fluid motion, she teleported herself rapidly around her opponent, a black blur encircling the Hyuga.

Tadashi employed revolving palms of heaven, thwarting her attacks from all angles. But while he was engaged defending himself, using his enhanced vision to fend off attacks, he could not avoid her sharingan whirling from all sides.

He wavered, collapsing on the ground in a boneless heap, defeated by genjutsu.

"Winner! Uchiha-Yuki!"

The crowd roared with approval, throwing confetti and blood red roses. She glared at the flowers, deactivated her jutsu, and walked away in disgust.

Yuki watched the rest of the matches, ensconced in the dark winner's area. She was glad her parents couldn't enter the restricted zone to congratulate her, because she didn't feel like _any_ congratulations were in order. She felt like a fraud.

Next up were a few ninja she didn't know, one from Stone and one from Mist. She didn't bother to watch the outcome and instead was lost in her thoughts. Her head snapped up when it was Hoshiko's turn to face some monster of a man from Mist: the ninja had dark purple skin and _gills _of all things. Yuki felt a shiver run down her spine. But Hoshiko, after gulping audibly, steadied herself and went after the brute, and in the end, she won. Yuki smiled wryly. She felt truly proud of the young genin, and for a moment, forgot her own melancholy.

As the next group was called up to duel, Yuki's breath caught in her throat: it was Uchiha Saki verses a wiry looking ninja from Lightning. Though he was lean, Yuki could see the muscles rippling under his mesh uniform. For some reason entirely unknown to Yuki, she felt _anxious_. Leaning forward on the bench, she gripped her seat with white-knuckled fingers. Hoshiko entered the winner's area, a pale grin on her wan face; apparently, the last duel had taken a lot out of her, as the young girl practically swayed until she managed to sit down.

_Damn,_ Yuki thought, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. _Can Saki really win against this guy?_

But she need not have worried. Saki had the ninja unconscious in five minutes flat. The crowd boomed with applause as the Saki jogged around the field, giving epic victory waves to her fans. But when she entered the winner's dugout and saw Yuki, her smile faded. She knew she would have to fight her sister soon. Yuki mumbled a congratulations to her sister, concealing the cold dread settling in her stomach.

She watched the next matches with only a fraction of her attention. Inside, she was a maelstrom of thoughts. It seemed almost _too_ perfect that Yuki would be fighting Saki. Too perfect—and _wrong_. After so much violence within the Uchiha clan, not to mention the battle against Madara that had taken place only last month, Yuki thought it was highly inappropriate to be facing off with her sister.

Doubts clouded her thoughts. Perhaps someone had set the two Uchiha children up to spar against each other? For a bet, or some other petty motive? Her blood began to boil, but quickly calmed herself down. Anger would get her nowhere. She needed information. Closing her eyes, she traveled with her mind, looking for answers. When she found them, her eyes snapped open, already red and whirling with the sharingan. She knew what she had to do.

The rest of the tournaments went by in a blur: Yuki noted with surprise that both Cho and Hayato also won their matches, and mused that the competition from the other villages was weak. Or perhaps, after their harrowing fights with hordes of zombies about a month prior, the chunin exam was a piece of cake_._ Aiji won his match too, but that was no surprise; Yuki mused that her teammate had probably been born with a kunai in his hand.

Suddenly, she snapped to attention at the sound of her resounding through the stadium: "Uchiha Yuki versus Uchiha Saki!"

This time the crowd roared like animals. Yuki forced her countenance to remain smooth. Beside her, she sensed that Saki had stiffened, but the girl's face was twisted into grim resolve. She stifled the urge to escape and instead strode into the arena to the cheering of the rabid fans. She didn't need a sharingan to pick out her parents in the stand. It wasn't difficult to spot her mother's pink hair after all.

Yuki's pulse quickened when she saw her parents' stricken, stupefied expressions.

_Don't_ _worry, mom and dad_, Yuki thought, guilt twisting her insides, _I'll take care of this._

Saki clenched her jaw and faced her opponent. "Go!" the announcer shouted.

Saki activated her sharingan while Yuki closed her eyes, deactivated her own doujutsu, and raised her hand. "I forfeit the match," she bellowed in a clear, cold voice. "Uchiha Saki is the winner."

"WHAT!?" Saki shrieked. "You—you can't do that!"

Sorrow clouded Yuki's vision as she looked at her. "I just did. You win. Congratulations, younger sister."

"No!" Saki roared, "Come at me!" And with that, she struck the earth. The ground groaned like a wounded animal as it crumbled beneath their feet. Cursing, Yuki leapt back to safety. When the dust cleared, her eyebrows rose: Saki had destroyed half the arena's ground in one fell swoop.

The announcer tried to get Saki to stop—after all, she had just _won_ the match—but the pink-headed girl would have none of it.

Yuki just smiled that sad, sad smile, which further enraged the younger Uchiha. Saki channeled chakra into her fists and activated the sharingan. "Yuki!" Saki screeched, the sound reminding Yuki enraged hawks, "You _will_ fight me with everything you have!"

But Yuki just smiled, the lines of her mouth drawn with sorrow, and merely dodged Saki's attacks. But before long, Yuki was forced to activate her sharingan as well, just to stay abreast of her sister.

"Saki," Yuki murmured, pitching her voice for Saki's ears alone, "Please stop. I don't want to fight you." Brief flashes of ancient memories flashed across her mind: Itachi, flitting like the shadow of Death himself, his blade taking the life from every Uchiha. Madara, his form outlined in moonlight, like the silhouette of the reaper. And her own blood, pooling like wine, mingling with Ryuu's—no, not Ryuu; he was Kaito then—the sounds of their death drowned out by the roar of the wind.

Saki continued to press forward, shooting fire from her lips and disrupting the earth with her fists. And when Yuki's smile turned even more melancholic, when Saki could see the lines of her mouth twisted at some inside joke, the younger girl fought even harder. It was only when a six pointed star spun in Yuki's eyes that the battle stilled.

The crowd was deathly silent, watching the quiet battle of mind that only the two Uchiha below were privy to.

And within the confines of their minds, Yuki spoke softly to her sister.

"Saki? Can you just _listen_ for a minute?" Her tone was curt but not unkind, but Saki flinched when she was met with her sister's depressing smile once more.

The world around them was pitch black, like a dark night with no moon or stars. "Did you just whip out Tsukiyomi?" Saki spat.

"It's not exactly...it's more like an in-between world, but in a different dimension then where we have been training. Just—" She exhaled hotly. "Just listen, okay? The feudal lords rigged the matches so that we would end up fighting each other."

"So?" Saki shrugged. "I'm still going to kick your ass."

Yuki sighed wearily. "No. I'm going to forfeit—"

Saki stamped her foot. "You can't—"

"No. Listen to me, Saki. The feudal lord of the land of Fire has a lot of money riding on me. It's ridiculous. I'm not going to fight you just because some rich asshole wants to show off. It's _sick_."

Saki blinked. At this point, she knew about the Uchiha massacre, just not in such visceral detail as her elder sister. She had yet to go through the trials of the mind Yuki had underwent to achieve her mangekyo.

"I…" Saki shook her head and started again. "Why can't we just spar like normal and see who wins?"

"I'm not going to do that in an arena filled with people calling for blood." Yuki took a step forward, and her tone became pleading. "Please, Saki. Please! The title of chunin means _nothing_ to me. You mean everything."

When the genjutsu finally broke, and the two children of the Uchiha were looking up at each other in normal reality, Saki bit her lip, then nodded, frowning heavily.

Yuki raised her hand. "I forfeit the match," she called, the sound booming throughout the stadium, "Uchiha Saki wins!"

The crowd booed and threw garbage down into the arena, but Yuki ignored them, stepped forward, and embraced her sister tightly. "I meant what I said," Yuki whispered. "You mean more to me than anything."

When Yuki pulled away, there were tears in Saki's eyes. "Okay," was all she said, but the reds of her irises communicated so much more.

#

Afterwards, Yuki achieved the rank of chunin while her younger sister did not. But instead of Saki's iconic huff, the younger Uchiha merely smiled. "I'm not ready for all the chunin responsibility," she waved evasively at her friend Hoshiko, who wore the chunin vest proudly. "I'm too impulsive."

Hoshiko looked at Saki with her mouth agape. Since when did her friend have any self-awareness of her anger management problem?

On the other hand, Yuki was perturbed by her elevation to chunin, and told Naruto so the next day in his office. The morning sky was bright blue with light streaks of pink, and the air was crisp. The perfect late-autumn day.

"Hokage-sama," Yuki asked, "why did I make chunin? Clearly, my sister Saki won our match." She looked at the Hokage expectingly.

Naruto smiled, and pushing away a huge pile of papers, rose and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Sometimes, Yuki-chan, knowing when to fight and when to forfeit is the most important thing."

Yuki looked at him askance, but he continued. "I don't know how you found out about it, but after the match, the feudal lord told me about the large bet he had riding on you. He said that he just knew that somehow, you had found out."

Yuki merely shrugged. She was not about to give away any of her secrets. "If the feudal lord lost a lot of money on me, then all the more reason I should be punished."

Naruto barked with laughter. "Actually, the feudal lord was so impressed with you, he's requested that you become part of his personal guard for the next five years!"

Yuki didn't believe it, but it was true. There had been too many intrigues around the palace as of late, and the feudal lord wanted someone to find the traitors within his midst. Uchiha Yuki, the feudal lord reasoned, would be perfect for the job: she had a cool, steady head, she excelled in genjutsu, and with her sharingan, she could easily enter the minds of others to find out their secrets.

"No," Yuki answered flatly, crossing her arms.

Naruto smiled. "Don't give your answer yet. Take a few days to think about it." And just as she turned to leave, he casually mentioned, "Oh. And Aiji has already agreed."

"Agreed to what?" Yuki asked over her shoulder, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Agreed to become part of the feudal lord's guard."

Yuki blinked. She had been so worried about her match with Saki, that she had overlooked Aiji's match entirely.

"The answer is still no, Hokage-sama," Yuki replied levelly as she exited.

"I'll ask you for your answer in a few days!" Naruto called, blithely ignoring her response.

But as Yuki chewed over his proposal over the next few days, she warmed up to the idea. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to leave Konoha, where the sun seemed to lack all luster, where she felt like she didn't have a place to be.

However, the real clincher came when Yuki was training in the dream world with Aya. She was being instructed on divination techniques, and scrying in particular. She filled up a silver bowl with water and gazed at its contents for a long time.

"Aya-sensei, I don't see anything," Yuki ventured.

Aya simply smiled. "Keep looking, but this time, keep your chakra steady..."

With a sigh, Yuki continued to gaze until a scene materialized in the glinting bowl.

She saw the soul of Uchiha Madara, drinking tea with Lady Death in her opulent parlor. She imagined that she could even hear the clink of the tea cups as they discussed Madara's future, even though Yuki could not hear anything. But what she saw next took her breath away.

Madara's soul shimmered before becoming a lime green light descending back down to earth. It streamed through the Konoha forest like mist and then, after swirling around the village as if uncertain, it entered into a body. It was a one month old fetus, barely more than a fat bunch of cells. Suddenly, the view changed, zooming outwards almost as if she was looking through a camera lens, and Yuki was staring at the face of her own mother.

But she had no time to contemplate the nightmare, for she saw the First Hokage's form speaking with Lady Death. His soul followed suit, a brilliant blue light traveling down through the highway of stars, circling over Konoha, and incarnating once more—in the womb of Uzumaki Hinata.

When Yuki came out of the trance, stupefied by what she had just seen, Aya told her to keep whatever information she had just seen to herself.

"But Aya," Yuki protested, "This is serious! I need to tell—"

Aya shook her head no. "Yuki, whatever was shown to you in the bowl was for your own benefit, and no one else's. It would bring catastrophe to tell anyone of your visions."

Yuki blanched in the dream world, then bowed her head, lost in thought.

When she woke in the morning, she had already made her decision: she would leave the village and work for the Feudal lord.

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><p><em>Only two more chapters to go! Thanks for reading, and please, review:)<em>


	49. Chapter 49: Cages

Yay, only one more chapter to go! Thanks so much to all my readers for rocking:) And geez, is it just me, or can you not stand having to wait for the final Naruto manga chapters!? :D

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><p><em>So play a song, strum it on your knee:<em>

_We move like the wind, like the air we are free,_

_We move through the earth like the wind through the trees,_

_We hover between sky and the westward breeze._

~Verse Seven of the Third Book of Akash

Chapter 49: Cages

_Five Years Later…_

Her bags were packed. Her hair was swept up into a bun. Her room where she had stayed these past five years was spotlessly clean, sheets folded, drawers empty. It was as if no one had lived here in the past five years.

In a way, no one had.

Guarding the feudal lord had proved to be more of a hassle than Yuki initially thought. In the beginning, she wondered how difficult it would be to guard a morbidly obese lord and in her superciliousness, scoffed at her new job offering. Even if it was her ticket out of Konoha, she was worried she was going to die of boredom.

And that's when all the various assassination attempts began to occur. Yuki swore there was at least one attempt on the pompous man's life at least once a week. Sometimes, the assassins were foolish enough to target Yuki herself. They quickly learned their mistake.

The first attempt on the Daimyo's life happened right in the royal chambers. The assassin was a sneaky bastard too, and had been about a foot away from ending the feudal lord's life via a sharp pointy katana when Yuki materialized from thin air and looked him in the eye. The assailant fell into a deep, blissful sleep. Blissful, that is, until he woke up in the interrogator's dungeon in chains.

Yuki never killed her prey. She simply put them in a pleasant dream space and handed them over to the royal guard. Aiji often mocked her for her hesitancy to kill. He himself had slain his fair share of would-be-assassins with his wind blades. Yuki would merely shrug at his teasing and ignore him. She had her own way of doing things; that was all.

Yuki observed a lot of things while at the palace: how the lord ate until he was as fat and round as a bloated whale, while his servants were skinny as scarecrows; how he passed judgement over his subjects, arbitrary decisions he made based on his mood, or on the weather. However, these judgements had effects in the real world, and not always for the greatest good.

In fact, the most memorable intruder at the palace was the father of a girl named Koto. He had come crawling in through an open window in the east wing on a balmy, summer evening. Yuki had caught him without any trouble; after all, the man was far from a trained ninja. He was a simple farmer, and his clumsy movements alerted her to danger well before he made it to the lord's chamber.

But before she could put him under genjutsu, the man got on his knees and bowed to Yuki.

"Lady," he pleaded "please hear my cry! The feudal lord has passed harsh judgement on my daughter. For the crime of stealing food from the lord's supply wagon, he has imprisoned her for ten years. My daughter is only twelve years old—she had no idea what she was doing!" The man began crying, and he insisted that he was only trying to steal something from the palace, sell it on the black market, and then pay his daughter's bail.

Yuki sighed heavily. She hardly believed the man, but something in his tone, in his desperate cries, touched her. She felt, rather than heard Aiji approach her until he was standing a hairsbreadth away.

"Well," he breathed into the shell of her ear, making her shiver despite the warm night, "are you going to put him under genjutsu or what?"

"Shut up," she muttered to her companion before forcing the poor man's head up. She looked into his eyes and, gazing into his mind saw that surprisingly, the man had been telling the truth. It seemed fair to him—and to Yuki as well—to rob from the rich lord in order to remedy the lord's unfair judgement.

In a moment, she released him. The man, surprised that he was still awake—let alone alive—began bawling his thanks.

"Just—leave," Yuki muttered, exasperated, as the man crawled back from whence he came.

Yuki noticed many such incidents like this, where the feudal lord passed laws and decrees that she thought were decidedly unfair and ridiculous. But she was merely a tool of the Daimyo, to be used according to his will. She had not spoken out against the myriad small injustices that he passed into law, but she didn't uphold them, either. And when she found men to be innocent, and the root cause of their guilt to be the feudal lord, she allowed them to escape with none the wiser.

At the end of five long years, having seen the underbelly of the political game, the corruption of government, and the suffering of the people under an opulent ruler, Yuki had made a decision.

She was going to leave her ninja life behind her entirely.

"What?!" Aiji asked incredulously, his pack shouldered on his back as they walked down the highway leading away from the royal city. "Yuki-san, you can't be serious. You're going to quit being a _ninja?_"

Yuki nodded. "I'll walk a little ways with you, Aiji-san, but then I'm off to Akash."

"But...why?" he shot back, his voice hot with agitation.

She shrugged. "The feudal lord," she began, not bothering to lower her voice, "is a jerk. He pulls laws out of his ass, not for the good of the people, but for his own pleasure. As a ninja of the Land of Fire, I am a tool of the feudal lord. And you know what? I'm sick of it," she spat. "I'm going home to the mountains and I'm never coming back."

"Yuki-san," he replied more gently this time, "you're just burnt out from our last mission. Come on. Don't you want to see your family? They haven't seen you for five long years. Your little sister will be all grown up, and your younger brothers will have become accomplished ninja."

Instead of soothing her, his words simply agitated her. Her youngest brother.

Her younger brother, Kayato, the reincarnation of Uchiha Madara, would be five years old when they returned. She didn't want to see him—to see the glints of madness lurking in his young eyes.

There was nothing drawing her back to Konoha. She had no desire to return to her family, to play the predetermined roles she had become accustomed to: eldest child, older sister; the one to swoop in and make everything okay again. The last time she had been in Konoha, the food had had no flavor, her life had had no color—like a photograph left too long in the sun, the colors leached until only a dull sepia was left.

In comparison, the mountains of Akash were the places she visited nightly in her dreams, flying over the lolling hills, the undulations of eternity, the ribs and hips of the earth. The jagged line of the pine trees silhouetted against the setting sun, the ridges bathed in blue from the falling twilight, those were the sights she craved. The songs of Akash, her dreaming life, was more real to her than anything in Konoha had ever been.

Yuki looked at Aiji with determination in her eyes. "Aiji-san," she insisted, "I'm leaving. Please tell everyone I love them and that I'll be thinking about them." And with that, she turned down the path towards Akash.

She had seen the dreams, the divinations pertaining to her future if she returned to Konoha. It wasn't what she wanted. It wasn't what any sane person would choose.

But Aiji had grabbed her by her elbow. "Yuki!" he shouted. "Think about how crushed your poor parents will be if you don't at least say goodbye. Think about how Saki-chan will cry when she learns she'll never see you again!"

Yuki sighed. How could she explain that she saw Saki on a regular basis, albeit in a different dimension? Her strange, otherworldly jutsu were something she didn't discuss with Aiji. He was a man firmly grounded in the reality of the day-to-day, and she knew he wouldn't understand.

But of course, Aiji did have a point: her mother and father would be upset if she didn't at least say goodbye...

Yuki shook her head. She couldn't become weak! Nothing good would come of returning to Konoha. She had seen it in her scrying bowl, her untimely death, the destruction... No. She wanted no part in that final battle. She was through with being a ninja, of being nothing more than a thoughtless tool.

"Aiji-kun," Yuki replied softly as she shrugged his hand off of her arm, "I really appreciate what you're trying to do. You've been a great teammate, and if it weren't for you, I'm sure I would have sawed off my own fingers with a rusty kunai these past five years."

Aiji chuckled at that. "Someone has to remind you not to take things too seriously, after all."

A wry grin danced across Yuki's lips, but she continued, "But I need to go. Please—"

But she couldn't continue her sentence, because Aiji grabbed her in a hasty embrace and kissed her full on the mouth.

Yuki was entirely unprepared for this.

The two had become close over the past five years, but Yuki was a guarded person, and had been reserved around him for the most part. After all, her dream life was so active, she hadn't felt the need to deepen her bond with Aiji. Especially because if she let her gaze linger on those eyes when they sparkled with laughter in the aftermath of a good joke, on the shape of his cheek, or his sleek brown hair as it blew gently in the wind—well, she would feel things that were downright unsettling and better left unexplored. After all, she had her work to do.

But now, in Aiji's arms, she could hear the blood rushing in her ears. She felt decidedly hot, and strange. "Aiji-kun," she breathed, "what...?"

"Come back to the village—for me, Yuki-chan," he whispered in her ear, the breath tickling her skin. "Just...let's walk back to the village together, and after you've said your goodbyes to everyone—to me—then you can leave."

Yuki knew she shouldn't acquiesce to the request, but it was awfully hard to think in that moment. Aiji took advantage of her pause and kissed her again. It was a sloppy kiss, inelegant, but Yuki was seeing stars...and she wasn't having a vision of souls dancing in the heavens, but light dancing on the inside of her dazed eyelids.

"Okay," she finally breathed when he pulled away. "Just…okay."

He grinned and took her hand, but didn't say anything.

That night, they kissed under the open canopy of the sky.

Technically, Yuki was five years Aiji's younger, but Aiji acted so nervous when he first began to kiss her she had to stifle her laughter. All thoughts about consequences and caution were blown to the wind. After all, at this point Yuki and Aiji were twenty years old if you counted inter-dimensional time skips, and they had just finished a major five-year mission. They felt invincible and free.

On the third night of their journey, about a day's distance from Konoha, they slept together. Yuki didn't think it was weird. After all, the two had been friends for five years, and fending off unbelievable sexual tension for that entire time. And though there was awkwardness, overall it was sweet. She liked the way he held her hand as they walked, she enjoyed the jokes he cracked about the feudal lord and his cronies, but most of all, she liked the way he looked at her.

She could tell that in his eyes, she wasn't just a tool to be used, or a powerful ninja to be feared; she was just herself. A woman. Uchiha Yuki, who had a terrible sense of humor and who liked to sleep in too late on the weekends. Aiji had grown on her, like an old sweater or pair of shoes that became more comfortable the longer you wore them. Sleeping together was just an extension of their friendship, a logical conclusion of holding hands and kissing and sharing a sleeping mat.

But when they got back to Konoha's gates, Yuki began to realize that to Aiji, it meant that they were dating—that Yuki wouldn't leave.

"Aiji-kun," she began when they were just a few paces away from those familiar gates, "you know I can't stay in Konoha. I still plan on leaving."

His face fell and he dropped her hand abruptly. They walked to the rest of the way in silence, and even when they reported their mission to the Hokage, Aiji lacked his usual luster, like a tarnished piece of silver.

But Yuki pushed the uncomfortable tension between them out of her mind: after all, she was only here to say her goodbyes. She'd stay for a week, two at the most, and then she would make her way to Akash—to her real home, there to lay down her arms and live a peaceful and quiet existence; there to give up her surname and the expectations of an entire village to which she did not quite belong.

She was surprised when she saw the Hokage again. It seemed he had earned more than a few gray hairs in her absence. And when she parted ways with a sullen Aiji, and wound her way through the familiar streets in the Uchiha district, she found herself overwhelmed with nostalgia and with the desire to stay for good.

Yuki took a deep breath and convinced herself that these sentiments would soon pass.

To say that her family was overjoyed to see her would be an understatement. Sakura, whose pink hair had thinned somewhat, and sported some more silver streaks than Yuki remembered her having, clutched her and cried, "My baby's all grown up!" Yuki rolled her eyes but she couldn't hide her smile all the same.

Her father clapped her on the back and told her it was good to see her again. She could tell from the way he stood back from her, the lines of his mouth twitching upwards in a smile, that he was deeply happy to "see" her again. Just as Sasuke backed away from Yuki, Saki practically plowed her over in a bear hug. "Yuki-chaaaaaaaaan!" the pink-headed girl shrieked.

Yuki winced at her temporary loss of hearing and ruffled her sister's hair. She was surprised to see that Saki had grown about two feet taller—though Yuki was pleased to note that she was still shorter than herself by at least six inches.

Takeo was really the biggest surprise. He had been only a child of two when Yuki had left the village, but now he was seven, a full fledged genin. He was still slightly chubby; Yuki mused some things never changed. After promising to train with Takeo, the last member of the family came to greet her—Kayato.

By the time Yuki had taken the job with the feudal lord, Kayato hadn't even been born. Now, he was five years old. With trepidation, Yuki looked into his eyes and saw—

Nothing out of the ordinary. He waved cheerfully to her, gave her a hug, and asked her if she could spar with him later. He looked absolutely normal. He had the iconic, black spiky hair of the Uchiha, dark eyes, and a mouth that rarely broke into a full smile.

Yuki began to think that perhaps, the scrying bowl was wrong...

After all, the future was uncertain, was it not?

But uncertain or no, Yuki did not want to stay in Konoha, and later that night, told her family about her plans to take a permanent leave from the ninja register to travel to Akash. They tried to reason with her. Sakura protested that Yuki was being considered as a future candidate for the position of Hokage, and Sasuke went on about her duty as heir to the Uchiha.

But Yuki didn't care about titles, or about the meaningless trappings of duty. She would spend some time in the village training Takeo and sparring with Kayato, but then she would leave.

In her heart, she knew didn't want to see the glints of madness that might be hidden beneath the facade of Kayato's innocent face.

That night, in her dreams, she tried to use the scrying bowl, but was unable to see the future clearly. She traveled to Aya to ask for advice, but her sensei just shook her head and said the future was an unknowable entity. The divination tools were not absolute.

Yuki felt her resolve weaken.

Two weeks later, her period was late. Yuki activated her Mankegyo Sharingan and with horror, saw a tiny bundle of cells forming in her womb.

In other words: she was pregnant.

For a moment, she had the urge to just run for it, leave the village without telling Aiji about the pregnancy. After all, he had been avoiding her like the plague these past few weeks. It wouldn't be hard to slip out without his notice...

But then her inner perfectionist started talking to her, and for the sake of her own integrity, she found that she could not keep it a secret. And so, on a rainy day, she knocked on Yuhi Kurenai's door and asked to please speak to her son. Aiji grumpily trudged to the door, and for a moment, Yuki found herself tongue tied.

"Um...Aiji-kun?"

"What?" he snapped.

"Um..." Kurenai was standing right by the door, and Yuki couldn't find it in her heart to break the news right then and there. "You want to...I don't know, get a bite to eat?"

"Aren't you leaving the village soon?" Aiji asked waspishly.

Yuki shrugged. "I guess we'll see about that..."

They walked in silence in the rain for a while. Yuki savored the tapping sounds of the rain against her blue umbrella. The repetitive drumming soothed her frazzled nerves. At last, she could take the silence any longer and blurted out, "Aiji—"

"Yuki—" Aiji began at the same moment. They both paused their walking and looked at the ground. Finally, Aiji broke the awkward silence. "Yuki-chan, I'm sorry for being so rude. It's just, I thought sleeping together meant more to you, is all." He toed the ground. "I sound so stupid," he grumbled, flushing.

Yuki blinked an errant drop of rain out of her eyes. "Well...it has come to mean more to me...with time..." Yuki began uncertainly. Yep. What she thought of as casual sex had definitely turned out to be lot more. She squeezed her eyes shut then and prayed to Kami for help while Aiji gaped at her.

"You mean—it did mean something to you?"

"Aiji-kun. I'm...I'm..."

"I love you too, Yuki-chan!" He moved in to kiss her, but Yuki stalled him with a shaking hand.

"No. Wait Aiji-kun, there's something I have to tell you..."

"You've been sleeping with another guy, haven't you?" Aiji replied, his voice quiet and cold.

Yuki rolled her eyes. "Idiot. I've only been back in the village for two weeks. Who the hell would I have been with!" She shook her head. "Listen," she replied, softening her voice, "I'm...I'm...I'm pregnant!" she managed at last.

Silence.

"You're—you're what?"

"Yeah. I'm…pregnant," Yuki mumbled.

"Yuki, you were never good at jokes," Aiji replied in an acerbic tone.

Yuki placed a hand on her hip and glared. "Who's joking?"

Aiji blinked a few times before his brain could come to terms with what she had just said. "You've got…You are…"

"Pregnant, genius."

Yuki was about to hit him, but Aiji captured her in a fierce hug. "This is great Yuki-chan!" he whispered into her ear.

Yuki buried her face in his long hair and closed her eyes, not out of happiness or any other cliched feeling one might have upon embracing an estranged lover. It was more like a wince, a feeling of loss. A bird being shut in a cage.

"You won't leave the village now? Will you?" Aiji asked haltingly.

"No. I'll stay," she replied, keeping her tone inflectionless.

Aiji and Yuki were married by the end of the month, and by that time, Yuki was mostly resigned to her fate. But in her dreams every night, she flew over the Akash mountain ranges like a lost bird and wailed a sorrowful song.

_#_

After the wedding, things calmed down a bit for Yuki. She was forced to take a leave of absence from the ninja registers due to her condition. Not that she minded, though. She was sick of being in the system, sick of missions. She enjoyed having more quiet time to herself, where she could wander the streets of Konoha aimlessly, or go for long, ambling walks in the forest by herself.

Aiji was sweet. He was everything a woman could want in a husband. He kissed her before they went to sleep and when they rose in the morning, made her herbal tea and rubbed her feet and thought of hundreds of baby names for their bundle of so-called joy. But he woke her up at night to cuddle when she was in the middle of a journey to the other world, and when she returned to the earthly plane she was groggy and disjointed. She felt as though she was a body someone had taken apart and then put back together the wrong way.

She was thankful for the times when Aiji got called away on missions, and when she dreamed, his face was not in them.

With her newfound free time, Yuki thought she would make the best of her situation and began training Kayato in ernest. She thought that perhaps with the right influence Kayato would grow up to be alright. He showed no traces of insanity, of greed, of any of the things that Yuki would have thought the reincarnation of Madara would have. He was always polite, showed her his rare smiles when he mastered a new jutsu, and all and all, was completely unremarkable. Yuki found herself doubting her vision, and thought that the future would be peaceful.

Yuki's first pregnancy went on without any complications, and nine months later, she had a baby girl. They named her Miya-chan. With the birth, Yuki was tied even more firmly to the bosom of Konoha, and she lost herself in a whirl of maternal activity. Sasuke came over often to help with the baby, and as she watched her father play with her infant daughter, she thought that maybe, just maybe, staying in Konoha had not been such a great loss.

And so the years passed by. Yuki and Aiji tried to conceive another child, but it was as if Yuki's body had had enough. Not that Yuki really minded, because it was Aiji who was insistent on having more children. Yuki would have been content to while away the days in silence, in peace and quiet. The stories about Yuki's adventures of her youth, the ridiculous heroic nicknames—Yuki of the mangekyo whose light never leaves, Yuki of the panthers, Yuki the heir to the Uchiha—faded, until she was simply Yuki, wife of Aiji and mother of Miya. It was almost as if she was a civilian woman.

She was content. But somewhere in her heart, she was also disappointed, because in Konoha, the sun never seemed to shine as brightly as it did in her dreams.

Ten years passed in a blur. Her daughter became a fine kunoichi and went off on missions with her team, while Yuki spent many hours with her aging father, making him meals and playing him songs while Sakura was out, still working insane hours at the hospital.

One day, her youngest brother asked her to help him train: he was on the cusp of becoming a Jonin, a remarkable feat for his young age. Yuki waved in a self-effacing manner and replied that he should ask Saki, or Takeo; she herself was grossly out of shape. But Kayato insisted, saying that she was the most powerful kunoichi in the whole village, and active or not, he would only train with her.

Yuki had long since forgotten the violent portents she had read in her divination bowl those many years and began training with him. She was surprised at how fun it was to fight again, to weave jutsu, to punch air and flesh and to become breathless from battle. There was a new light in her eyes, and she looked forward to her sparing sessions with her youngest brother.

It was during this time period that Yuki became pregnant once more. Aiji had come back from a long mission badly injured, and his brush with death had renewed his desire to increase his progeny. Yuki didn't protest, but her brother Kayato couldn't help but notice that a bit of the light, so newly returned to her eyes, had vanished.

When she was in her ninth month of pregnancy, and Kayato was nearing the date for his jonin examination, Yuki would rest in the shade and simply watch Kayato perform his jutsu, being too heavy with child to spar herself.

"You'll definitely pass, Kayato-kun," she called. She was happy for him: he had his youth, his freedom, the ability to dance in the air like a bird, to create fire from the aether. She was vaguely jealous, but she wouldn't admit it, even to herself.

"Eldest sister," Kayato began as he sat beside his sister under a tall pine tree, "why do you do this to yourself?"

"What? You mean this?" Yuki replied, pointing to her belly. "I think Aiji did this actually..."

Kayato snorted. "You know what I mean. I don't think you were really cut out for domestic life."

Yuki simply shrugged and played with a blade of grass between her fingers. What could she say, really? When she had become pregnant and married, a part of her had given up. It was like a hawk whose wings had been clipped. She hadn't flown for so long, she had forgotten what the rush of air in her face felt like.

"Yuki, you're the strongest kunoichi—no, the strongest ninja—in this whole damn village. Why don't you reenlist? Don't you miss it—being powerful?"

Yuki shook her head. "Power isn't all its cracked up to be, my little brother. I'm much happier now..."

Kayato shot her a look; she couldn't quite describe it, but it seemed like even without his sharingan activated, he could see right through her.

"You're lying," he replied, his voice quiet and cold. "I've read the reports on you, how you could teleport through the air and slit a man's throat before he even—"

"Enough, Kayato-kun. It only takes a moment to end a life; it is much harder and more meaningful to create life instead."

Kayato merely snorted and rose, telling his sister that he would meet her at dusk for their nightly session. Right now, he said, he had to think.

Yuki felt a shiver run down her spine when he gave her that strange look again, but she convinced herself that she was imagining things, that Kayato was just pitying her when really, there was nothing to pity. She waddled home to make herself lunch, and ignored the gnawing sensation in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

><p><em>Alright guys, almost to the END! Thanks so much for reading, and please, review:)<em>


	50. Chapter 50: Endless Song

Wow, I'm actually tearing up a bit right now. Here is the very last chapter of Song of Aether. Thanks so much to all my wonderful readers for sticking with me all these years, for all 210,000 words. Your readership has meant the world to me. And now, please enjoy:

* * *

><p><em>The Aether's song, play it soft and high,<em>

_Like an antler shedding, or a woman's sigh;_

_Play it with metal slapped on the thigh_

_For today we live, tomorrow we die._

~Final Verse of the Third Book of Akash

Chapter 50: Endless Song

By the time Yuki went out to meet her younger brother, the forest was colored purple and pink from the twilight, while the shadows were tinged cerulean. The air around her almost seemed to glow, to buzz with electricity. It was quiet—almost too quiet. As if every living thing in the forest was holding its breath in expectation. She shivered. Then she gave herself a shake and forced a chuckle. It was just another normal evening, she told herself. Still, the nagging sense of worry—that something wasn't quite right—would not leave her.

Tossing her head, she regarded the full moon rising like a bloated, awkward pregnant woman, she thought with some humor. Finally, as she rounded the final bend in the path, she spotted Kayato by their favorite training spot. She felt a shiver go down her spine again, but she chalked it up to the chill of dusk and proceeded forward.

"Eldest sister," Kayato began, his eyes dark like clouds before the rain, "I've given it a lot of thought."

"What have you thought about, Kayato-kun?" Yuki replied lightly, not liking his tone. Her body tensed.

Kayato's eyes awoke with the sharingan, three tomoes whirling on crimson irises. Yuki's sharingan activated as if of its own accord as she took a staggering step back. The look in his eyes frightened her.

"Eldest sister," he said, his voice devoid of inflection, "I'm going to kill you."

And just like that, he charged towards her, a katana clenched in his hands.

Yuki's ninja reflexes took over and she leapt out of the way, but her mind reeled with images: the glint of the silver scrying bowl. Scenes from her very first vision, when she had become one with her past life as Mukadori and had seen the possibilities of her future death unfolding before her like a bad play.

And here she was living out the vision she had seen so long ago, with the cold moonlight and the cerulean shadows, and her youngest brother lunging to slice her throat. She bit back a curse as she dodged again, but her mind was still spinning, and her movements were heavy and slow from her large belly. Though she twisted out the the way, the blade found purchase in her arm, drawing a deep gash.

Yuki jumped back and panted heavily, her eyes switching from the sharingan to the mangekyo in an instant. The jutsu felt alien after years of disuse. "Kayato," she breathed, staring at him in disbelief. "Why?" It was a simple question, but it contained within it was a world of meaning.

"I will be the strongest in this village," he stated simply, his voice even. "I will show the world the meaning of power. Those with power shape the future, and I intend to take that power." He stared back at her flatly, and Yuki saw it in his eyes—how had she missed it before?

The madness of greed that had possessed Tadashi, back at the chunin exams; the light that had twisted the irises of her father, all those many moons ago as he was possessed by Madara. She had known this day would come, and yet she had deluded herself—she had hid behind the curtain of her own fantasies until her future had become real.

Yuki strengthened her resolve. She knew that she would die here—she had already seen how battle this would end—but at least she would go down fighting. Like a true kunoichi.

She was not afraid.

She flew forward to attack, her teeth bared in a snarl. But in the moment when she hung in the air like a windblown leaf, she had a pang of regret for the child she held in her womb. Perhaps it would be saved, even though she would not be; she did not know. She had never seen that piece in her vision before.

She breathed fire and he drew lightning, until the whole of the clearing was cast in hellish relief from the light of their jutsu. The earth shook from Yuki's fists, while lighting crackled from Kayato's katana.

But it was no use. Even if Yuki hadn't been out of practice, she was too fat and ungainly to properly fight. And worst of all, she dared not use her teleport jutsu, lest the child she carried die from the journey. She didn't know why she bothered, really. In all probability, both she and the child were about to die. But she was foolish, and she had listened to the Hokage talk about hope and peace and the will of fire too many times. She would not do anything to jeopardize the baby if there was even the slightest chance it could be saved.

Sweat drenched her shirt, and her arm ached painfully from where Kayato had slashed her. Her chakra reserves were dwindling. Her mind grappled with trying to formulate a battle plan, but she could do little but try to defend herself against her assailant.

"Give up, eldest sister," Kayato called in that too-cool voice. "I've been studying your techniques for years now. We both know you're no match for me in your present condition."

Yuki only growled in response. She knew that he was right. _I'll have to try genjutsu. The gods help me…_

But it seemed as though Kayato knew that she was going to try that. He steadfastly avoided her gaze and zoomed forward, his katana flashing silver in the moonlight.

In desperation, she pounded the earth, displacing enough dust to hide her movements, and sprinted back towards the village in an effort to escape. As she neared the edge of the cloud, however, his sword slashed through the air and caught her on the cheek. She cursed and leapt back, frustrated tears coursing down her face.

At last, as the dust settled, Kayato hurtled forward, his katana pointed straight towards her. Howling, she hurled her body to the side, but she was too slow. Kayato pivoted, and the point of his blade plunged into her heart with a wet _thwack._

She sank to the ground, eyes wide as the moon overhead, hot blood gushing from her chest. _This is the end_, some rational part of Yuki's brain thought. _Only let my child live. Somehow, gods, let it live…_

The last thing she saw were the tears in Kayato's eyes, and then his long, bloody fingers reaching for her eyes. Darkness came and swallowed her whole.

#

As Yuki floated through empty space, she thought about what tea she would ask for when she arrived at Lady Death's tea parlor. But before she could choose, she saw a great light, and a pair of hands, and she was pulled through the thick moonlight. And then she couldn't see at all, and there was a terrible pain in her head and in her heart.

"Hush now, don't move."

Yuki couldn't see, but she would know that voice anywhere. She gasped. "Aya-sensei," she croaked, "am I…dead?" The words sounded stupid to her, and yet, she truly wasn't sure.

"Not yet, Yuki-chan. Not yet," she replied, her voice hoarse with tears. Yuki felt a great surge of healing chakra, and she floated off towards a thick cloud of oblivion once again. As her consciousness slipped away, she whispered, "Save my baby, Aya-sensei..."

#

It was three days later when Yuki finally woke, blind and groggy, but somehow alive.

"Yuki-chan," Aya intoned, in a voice that was older than her years, "you must take my eyes and fight your youngest brother."

Yuki did not respond right away. She sipped the bitter medicine Aya had given her and grimaced, though not from the taste. "Why can't you fight him, Aya-sensei? I'm half dead." She laughed mirthlessly.

"You must," Aya said, her tone suddenly going cold. "This is your destiny. Your fate."

Yuki cursed under her breath and tipped back her cup, taking the rest of the medicine in one gulp. "What about the child, Aya-sensei? I can't…" she trailed off, too choked up to speak. Somehow, the baby had survived the battle; she did not know if it would survive a fight a second time.

Aya sighed, then kissed Yuki on the forehead. "Come now. We don't have much time."

A few hours later, Yuki rose from her sick bed, Aya's eyes in her head. "We both know that I will not survive this battle, Aya-sensei," Yuki whispered. "Can't we deliver the baby first? _Please." _She made no effort to hide the pleading note in her voice.

Aya shook her head, her eyelids closed over empty sockets. "As I told you before, it is against the will of the spirits."

Yuki squeezed her eyes closed and tried to force down the feeling of cold dread in her stomach. She was certain she'd fight better without worrying about the baby, but she trusted Aya's judgement. Who knew what fate held for this child, if it was truly slated to survive the day, or…? She gritted her teeth and did not complete the thought.

"I'm ready, sensei. Please open the portal."

Aya drew her into a shaky hug, then stepped back quickly. With a flash of her hands, a silvery disk opened up in the middle of the air, humming like a hive of bees, rippling like water. Without stopping to think about what she was doing, Yuki leapt through.

When she stumbled out of the portal, she landed on the outskirts of Konoha, which was bathed in sallow light from the waning moon. The sky was overcast with orange and red-lit clouds, and Yuki felt her heart racing at the sight of it. The hellish light was cast by a huge fire raging inside of the village, consuming countless buildings.

She sped forward, a silent shadow on the face of the night. As she approached the village, she saw hordes of bandits streaming through the breached walls. From a cursory glance with her sharingan, she could tell from their uniforms and headbands that they were a motley crew from all different villages. _So this is what my youngest brother did when he traveled as a diplomat to other countries—he gathered recruits._ She stifled the urge to spit in disgust and instead quickened her pace, anger coursing through her.

She leapt through one of the ruined walls and entered the village silently, avoiding any notice by virtue of genjutsu. She could not afford to linger here—not when _he_ was in there somewhere.

She didn't have to look far to find her younger brother Kayato: he was at the center of the chaos, locked in battle with the Hokage's youngest son, Ushio. The village was ruined in a radius of a hundred feet in every direction from the force of their jutsu. Buildings had been completely flattened, and the earth was pockmarked with deep craters.

She glanced around quickly for the Hokage, but could not find him. For a moment, she wondered if she should find Saki, or her mother and father. But she shook her head. She had wasted enough time already. As quickly as she could, she darted forward, keeping low to the ground. The two nin were so intent on their own fight, they hardly noticed her. When a natural pause in the battle occurred, she lunged forward, shoved Ushio out of the way and threw up a barrier around herself and Kayato before either man could react.

"Little brother," she breathed, her eyes glowing red with the sharingan.

He blanched at the sight of her. Before he could react, Yuki dashed towards him, kunai in hand—she was not the one caught unawares this time. A shrill, wailing sound filled the air. Kayato braced himself for an attack, but none came. As he crouched in defense, he peered at his sister and saw that she had used her kunai to slash open her own palms. She slammed them down on the ground in front of him and cried:

"I call on the blood of the ancestors!"

He took a step back, eyes wide as he regarded the shifting shadows gathering around him.

"What is this?" he demanded. "What did you do?"

As if in answer, Yuki activated her susano. He bit off a curse—how could she not only be alive, but use a jutsu associated with the eyes he had stolen from her?—and he activated his own susano, his chakra roaring to life.

It did not matter, he assured himself. He had come this far, and nothing—not even the ghost of his dead sister—could stop him.

However, his lips parted in surprise when he met the gaze of the shinobi facing him: inside of the blazing susano was not Uchiha Yuki, or at least, not exactly. She was at the center of overlapping energies. He didn't know how else to explain it. It was like she was in the center of three different chakra systems, three different people. And her eyes—

One eye was a mangekyo, and the other—a rinnegan.

"This is the end, brother." He started at that. The voice seem multiplied, echoing, as if if came from more than one person.

He shook his head and prepared to block Yuki's fiery sword that she drew from a gourd-shaped jar. Then his mouth went dry when he recognized her weapon.

_Is that—the Sword of Totsuka?!_

The sword swung down, sparking wildly as it flew towards him. He braced his shield against its weight, but it was no use: the blinding sword sliced his shield neatly in two, found purchase in his susano's armor, and embedded itself in his flesh.

"NO!" he shouted as a vortex sucked him in to Itachi's legendary sword, his pitiful cry piercing the night.

When the barrier came crashing down a moment later, Yuki collapsed to the ground, utterly exhausted. Kayato, however, was no where to be found, nor would he ever return again.

There was a whirl of pink in front of her. "Yuki-chan! Oh, Yuki! Yuki!" Saki wailed her name over and over again, as if her cries could change fate.

"Saki," Yuki croaked, smiling faintly at the sight of her, "save the baby."

"But you—"

Yuki began coughing, but somehow, she managed to get out, "Saki-chan. I don't have much time. The baby will die if left in my body for much longer... You have to save the child—now." The fit of coughing returned, obscuring anything else she might have said.

Saki covered her mouth and fought back the urge to weep. Even without touching her sister, she could see that her chakra was fading fast. "Yuki-chan," she whispered, her face going as white as Yuki's own bloodless one. She forced herself to take a deep breath and steadied her hands.

Without delaying any longer, she cut two precise incisions on Yuki's belly. Yuki didn't feel any pain at all. Instead, she smiled, her black eyes reflecting the light of the silver moon.

With trembling hands, Saki placed the bloody, wailing infant in Yuki's weak arms. Yuki smiled down at it, and said in a small voice, "I will name this child Gin—'silver,' for the silver moonlight." Yuki shifted slightly, and the moonlight bathed the child's face. "Gin will walk the dream world just as I did—I'm sure of it." She smiled softly, lost in thought, her vision blurring. Then she shook her head and gritted her teeth, fighting to stay conscious just a moment longer. "Saki," she ordered, "remove my eyes."

"What? I can't!" she replied, horrified.

"You must. If you leave them in my body, they'll die with me, and they aren't mine to have. Saki-chan? Please…"

Yuki's pleading tone broke Saki's heart. It was clear that Yuki was dying—how could she deny her final wishes? She removed her sister's eyes, one by one, and placed them in a jar that Yuki had ready in her pocket, as if she had planed for this macabre ending all along.

Yuki's arms became too weak to hold the wailing infant, so Saki tenderly took the babe from her. "Yuki-chan, let me stop the bleeding. I can still save you!"

"No, Saki-chan. We both know it's too late." Her smile widened, and her vacant eyes seemed to scan the stars. "He's here to take me. I knew he'd come. Yes, I missed you too," she whispered, her empty eyes seeing things which no one else could. Saki spared a glance for her sister's poor body before activating her own sharingan. But she could not properly see, because tears blurred her vision.

"Yuki-chan," Saki whispered, knowing there was nothing left she could do.

"Ryuu-kun, I'm tired. Take me home," Yuki murmured, and then, the breath stilled in her chest. As she lay motionless, a silver light gathered around her in a blinding nimbus—and her body simply disappeared from sight. Saki blinked at the empty spot where Yuki had been, at the blood still staining the cold ground, and began to weep. Her sobs mingled with the sound of the infant crying in her arms.

At last, Saki took a deep breath, stilling her cries. She had a duty to Yuki's child now. Through her tears, she gazed at Gin's tiny face. Her sobs, too, had stilled. The baby drew in shuddering breaths, but she was alive. The last remnant of her sister. All at once, the baby's eyes snapped open, and Saki gasped: in her arms was the first baby born not only with the sharingan, but with the mangykyo.

Pain constricting her heart, so terrible that she thought she might explode. Saki looked away from the child, and for the first time, noticed that Sakura was sitting beside her, her face shinning with tears. Saki had no idea when she had arrived.

Her mother met her stricken gaze. "Saki-chan," she said, her voice rasping with sorrow, "you have the mangekyo, too."

Saki said nothing. The night air was still now; almost silent. The only noise was the low moan of the wind. She glanced away from her mother and looked up into the sky, where pale silver lights danced amid the stars. Her mouth parted in surprise: Uzumaki Ryuu and Uchiha Yuki glimmered high above, appearing as they were when they had been genin. They ran across the pathways of stars and space, retreating until nothing remained but a golden light gently shimmering in heavens.

Saki's mouth twisted in a bitter-sweet smile. She swore she could hear their laughter, even now, echoing distantly across the night sky.

#

When Saki gave her mission report, the Hokage hung his head. He was too old for this, damn it. Too old to fight crazed Uchihas and rag-tag armies. He had been wounded on the second day of the assault, so carefully planned by Uchiha Kayato. The betrayal made it all the more painful. How could something so sinister be planned by a boy he had known and helped raise since infancy?

Maybe it was the world of ninja, destined to never know peace. Ninja were abominations, aberrations of chakra, and as long as they lived, war was inevitable and peace a dream for senile old men.

He couldn't believe that two of Sasuke's children were now dead—dead, because Naruto had been a fool blinded by trust. The sadness he felt was worse for knowing how Sasuke and Sakura were suffering.

But there was nothing for it, nothing to do now but to clean up the village and move on as best as they could. He stayed up through the night despite his wounds, taking reports, giving orders, and trying to make sense of what had happened. When dawn finally bleached the horizon, the light gave him little comfort.

The air was heavy in Konoha the next day, as if a smothering fog had settled on the village. The ANBU interrogated their prisoners, the nin rebuilt the village walls, while everything was pervaded by a stark silence. Sasuke sat with Sakura, their tiny grandchild in Sasuke's arms, unable to speak. Here was a death and here was a birth, the price of life; two children were gone, but here was this strange creature, this grandchild who blinked up at them with sharingan eyes, and sometimes, a six pointed star. It would seem like the child could look into your soul and smile, as if she were very old, and not newly born.

It was decided that Sasuke would raise the child himself; for one, the aging shinobi wanted to. But the most pressing reason was that only he could handle the babe: since he was blind, her random usage of the mangekyo had no effect on him. And if sometimes, while he lulled the crying child to sleep— because it seemed the infant cried often, more so than a normal child—if he accidentally called her "Yuki" instead of her given name, no one had the heart to correct his mistake.

#

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. When a placid melancholy took the place of the fervor of war and the emptiness its aftermath, Naruto decided to build a monument. He had been inspired by Saki's report, that Yuki had whispered Ryuu's name and danced away with him on a highway of stars. Sasuke agreed with Naruto, and he wanted to help. It would do them good, to externalize this grief. To build it with stone. Somehow, it would make this unbearable sadness less oppressive.

Yamato offered to help, long since retired from the forces. Takeo also volunteered, since he was talented in earth jutsu as well. Naruto outlined family pictures with chakra ink so Sasuke could trace them to choose the images they would use. Yamato made a model out of wood first, and it was so lovely that Takeo had very little to improve on.

By the gates of the Uchiha compound, across from the memorial to Itachi, they built an arch out of the bending forms of Uzumaki Ryuu and Uchiha Yuki, their fingers touching to form a bridge, their faces smiling, appearing as they were in their genin days. Sasuke explored it with his chakra and nodded solemnly, Yuki's child in his arms. Sakura trembled as she gazed at it, tears in her eyes. They had a dedication ceremony, and Sasuke played Yuki's old silver flute, a lilting tune, reminiscent of the piece Yuki herself had played, so many moons ago, at Ryuu-kun's funeral.

As he played the mournful song, Saki looked up, up over the silver music. She swore she saw spirits dancing, and Yuki herself, smiling, stars in her eyes.

The nin of Konoha, gazing on, felt content. Now that the statue was here, things would be all right; at least, that is what it seemed. It was almost as if the figures would watch over them.

Naruto read the inscription below to the assembled:

_All who walk under this gate, let them remember those who died for peace, and set forth to live in peace._

And it was so for many years.

Long, long after Konoha was but a faded memory, and her buildings, houses, and walls all lay in ruin and rubble, the only structure that seemed to have escaped destruction were the smiling statues of Yuki and Ryuu. They stood in a field covered with wildflowers where houses had once stood. The paint on the monument had long since worn away, making the stark white marble sparkle in the sun, and it was no longer possible to differentiate the features on the faces, except for the hint of two pale smiles.

In winter, snow would pile up on their heads and shoulders. In summer, birds would roost on their arms, drying their wings in the sun and singing sweetly.

And every so often, though there was not a soul to hear it except for, perhaps, the birds, flute music would ring out in the desolate glade, and the sound of children's laughter could be heard, floating on the breeze like a joyful, lilting song.

THE END

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><p>Thanks so much for reading;) I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!<p> 


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